optadovsoptanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,192
“optado” frequency rank
#25,381
“optan” frequency rank
44573
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature optado optan
Definition Participio de optar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de optar.

Where the eye mixes optado and optan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
optado
5 ch
optan

Why the eye confuses optado with optan

A purely visual mix-up. optado ([opˈt̪að̞o]) and optan ([ˈopt̪ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44573, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

optado is recorded at frequency rank #19,192, classified as averb, pronounced [opˈt̪að̞o]. optan is at rank #25,381, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈopt̪ãn].

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 44573, this pair ranks #136,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of optado vs optan

Shared letters: aopt. Private to "optado": d. Private to "optan": n.

"optado" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "optan" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • optadoopatdo · opptado · optaddo · optaod · optdao · opttado · otpado · potado
  • optanopatn · opptan · optann · optna · opttan · otpan · potan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "optado" for "optan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([opˈt̪að̞o] versus [ˈopt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "optado" vs "optan" - which ranks higher?
"optado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,192 in our Spanish list, against #25,381 for "optan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "optado" and "optan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "optado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "optan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #136,292 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "optado" and "optan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oían vs optan". 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 #136,292 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