patatavsputadaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,664
“patata” frequency rank
#39,408
“putada” frequency rank
56072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature patata putada
Definition (Solanum tuberosum) Planta herbácea, caducifolia, de la familia de las solanáceas, de tallo erecto o decumbente de hasta 1 m de largo, hojas imparipinnadas, de foliolos lanceolados, pilosas, y flores en inflorescencias terminales racemosas, de pétalos fusionados de color blanco a púrpura, que fructifican en pequeñas bayas. Se la aprecia por los tubérculos que produce su sistema radical, muy usados en gastronomía. Cuando alguien o algo le hace a una persona algo desagradable.

Where the eye mixes patata and putada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. patata and putada follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
patata
6 ch
putada

Look-alike desk: patata vs putada

A purely visual mix-up. patata ([paˈt̪at̪a]) and putada ([puˈt̪að̞a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

patata is recorded at frequency rank #16,664, classified as anoun, pronounced [paˈt̪at̪a]. putada is at rank #39,408, tagged as anoun, pronounced [puˈt̪að̞a].

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 56072, this pair ranks #76,147 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of patata vs putada

Shared letters: apt. Private to "patata": -. Private to "putada": du.

"patata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "putada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patata ← aptata · paatta · pataat · patatta · pattaa · pattata · ppatata · ptaata
  • putada ← pputada · ptuada · puatda · putaad · putadda · putdaa · puttada · uptada

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "patata" and "putada" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈt̪at̪a] versus [puˈt̪að̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "patata" or "putada"?
"patata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,664 in our Spanish list, against #39,408 for "putada". 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 "patata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "putada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,147 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "patata" and "putada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pulida vs putada". 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 #76,147 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