pacosvspatiosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,304
“pacos” frequency rank
#16,665
“patios” frequency rank
63969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pacos patios
Definition Forma del plural de paco. Forma del plural de patio.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pacos and patios apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pacos
6 ch
patios

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pacos ([ˈpakos]) and patios ([ˈpat̪jos]) 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 63969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pacos is recorded at frequency rank #47,304, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpakos]. patios is at rank #16,665, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪jos].

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 63969, this pair ranks #47,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pacos vs patios

Shared letters: aops. Private to "pacos": c. Private to "patios": it.

"pacos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "patios" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pacosapcos · paccos · pacoss · pacso · paocs · pcaos · ppacos
  • patiosaptios · paitos · patioss · patiso · patois · pattios · ppatios · ptaios

Frequency comparison

pacos#47,304
patios#16,665

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pacos" and "patios" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpakos] versus [ˈpat̪jos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pacos" or "patios"?
"patios" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,665 in our Spanish list, against #47,304 for "pacos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pacos vs patios

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pacos” 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