ocupóvsopusoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“ocupó” and “opuso” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,685
“ocupó” frequency rank
#15,187
“opuso” frequency rank
23872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ocupó opuso
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ocupar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de oponer o de oponerse.

Where the eye mixes ocupó and opuso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ocupó and opuso follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
ocupó
5 ch
opuso

Why the eye confuses ocupó with opuso

A purely visual mix-up. ocupó ([okuˈpo]) and opuso ([oˈpuso]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ocupó is recorded at frequency rank #8,685, classified as averb, pronounced [okuˈpo]. opuso is at rank #15,187, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈpuso].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 23872, this pair ranks #243,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ocupó vs opuso

Shared letters: opu. Private to "ocupó": có. Private to "opuso": s.

"ocupó" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "opuso" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • opuso ← oppuso · opsuo · opuos · opusso · oupso · pouso

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ocupó" and "opuso" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([okuˈpo] versus [oˈpuso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ocupó" or "opuso" show up more?
"ocupó" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,685 in our Spanish list, against #15,187 for "opuso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ocupó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "opuso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ocupó" and "opuso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obtuso vs opuso". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #243,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list