pachovspichónWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pacho is a adjective, pichón is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pacho” is an adjective and “pichón” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,057
“pacho” frequency rank
#37,781
“pichón” frequency rank
79838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pacho pichón
Definition Que rehúye el trabajo o la fatiga. Pollo de la paloma casera.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pacho and pichón apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pacho
6 ch
pichón

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pacho is [ˈpat͡ʃo] while pichón is [piˈt͡ʃõn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pacho is recorded at frequency rank #42,057, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpat͡ʃo]. pichón is at rank #37,781, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piˈt͡ʃõn].

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 79838, this pair ranks #12,467 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pacho vs pichón

Shared letters: chp. Private to "pacho": ao. Private to "pichón": inó.

"pacho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pichón" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pachoapcho · paccho · pachho · pacoh · pahco · pcaho · ppacho

Frequency comparison

pacho#42,057
pichón#37,781

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pacho" and "pichón" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pacho" is an adjective and "pichón" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pacho" or "pichón"?
"pichón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,781 in our Spanish list, against #42,057 for "pacho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pacho vs pichón

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pacho”; for a noun, it's “pichón”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pacho” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list