padrinovspadrinosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,394
“padrino” frequency rank
#23,160
“padrinos” frequency rank
33554
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature padrino padrinos
Definition El que tiene, presenta o asiste a otra persona que recibe el sacramento del bautismo, de la confirmación, del matrimonio o del orden si es varón, o que profesa, si se trata de una religiosa. Forma del plural de padrino.

Where the eye mixes padrino and padrinos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. padrino runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against padrinos's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
padrino
8 ch
padrinos

Visual trap between padrino and padrinos

A purely visual mix-up. padrino ([paˈð̞ɾino]) and padrinos ([paˈð̞ɾinos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “padrino” sits inside “padrinos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

padrino is recorded at frequency rank #10,394, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈð̞ɾino]. padrinos is at rank #23,160, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈð̞ɾinos].

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 33554, this pair ranks #196,194 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of padrino vs padrinos

Shared letters: adinopr. Private to "padrino": -. Private to "padrinos": s.

"padrino" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "padrinos" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • padrino ← apdrino · paddrino · padirno · padrinno · padrion · padrnio · padrrino · pardino
  • padrinos ← apdrinos · paddrinos · padirnos · padrinnos · padrinoss · padrinso · padrions · padrnios

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "padrino" for "padrinos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([paˈð̞ɾino] versus [paˈð̞ɾinos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "padrino" or "padrinos" show up more?
"padrino" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,394 in our Spanish list, against #23,160 for "padrinos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "padrino" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "padrinos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #196,194 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "padrino" and "padrinos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "padrinos vs podridos". 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 #196,194 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