patavsputasTell them apart

Quick tell: pata is a noun, putas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#5,869
“pata” frequency rank
#3,354
“putas” frequency rank
9223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pata putas
Definition Extremidad de los animales utilizada para la locomoción en tierra, que va en número de un único par en las aves y los primates hasta unos 200 pares en los miriápodos de la clase Diplopoda. Funcionalmente similar, es sin embargo evolutivamente muy diferente entre invertebrados y vertebrados. En estos últimos está por lo general dividida claramente en dos secciones, articuladas en la rodilla. Forma del plural de puta.

Where the eye mixes pata and putas

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

4 ch
pata
5 ch
putas

Look-alike desk: pata vs putas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pata is [ˈpat̪a] while putas is [ˈput̪as]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pata is recorded at frequency rank #5,869, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪a]. putas is at rank #3,354, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈput̪as].

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 9223, this pair ranks #302,587 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pata vs putas

Shared letters: apt. Private to "pata": -. Private to "putas": su.

"pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "putas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patapaat · patta · ppata · ptaa
  • putaspputas · ptuas · puats · putass · putsa · puttas · uptas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pata" for "putas" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pata" is a noun and "putas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pata" or "putas"?
"putas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,354 in our Spanish list, against #5,869 for "pata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "putas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #302,587 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pata" and "putas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pata vs petar". 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 #302,587 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