partevspatoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#72
“parte” frequency rank
#7,894
“pato” frequency rank
7966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parte pato
Definition Lo que se separa, aparta, o se considera aisladamente del todo. Ave palmípeda del orden de las anseriformes, que se encuentra en estado silvestre y es domesticada para aprovechar sus huevos, plumas y carne.

Where the eye mixes parte and pato

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
parte
4 ch
pato

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parte ([ˈpaɾt̪e]) and pato ([ˈpat̪o]) 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 7966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parte is recorded at frequency rank #72, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaɾt̪e]. pato is at rank #7,894, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪o].

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 7966, this pair ranks #306,376 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parte vs pato

Shared letters: apt. Private to "parte": er. Private to "pato": o.

"parte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parteaprte · paret · parrte · partte · patre · pparte · prate
  • patopaot · patto · ppato · ptao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parte" and "pato" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpaɾt̪e] versus [ˈpat̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parte" or "pato"?
"parte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #72 in our Spanish list, against #7,894 for "pato". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list