patéticasvspatéticosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,714
“patéticas” frequency rank
#26,172
“patéticos” frequency rank
72886
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature patéticas patéticos
Definition Forma del femenino plural de patético. Forma del plural de patético.

Where the eye mixes patéticas and patéticos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. patéticas and patéticos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
patéticas
9 ch
patéticos

Visual trap between patéticas and patéticos

A purely visual mix-up. patéticas ([paˈt̪et̪ikas]) and patéticos ([paˈt̪et̪ikos]) 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 a single letter - a in “patéticas” becomes o in “patéticos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

patéticas is recorded at frequency rank #46,714, classified as anadj, pronounced [paˈt̪et̪ikas]. patéticos is at rank #26,172, tagged as anadj, pronounced [paˈt̪et̪ikos].

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 72886, this pair ranks #24,447 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of patéticas vs patéticos

Shared letters: acipsté. Private to "patéticas": -. Private to "patéticos": o.

"patéticas" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "patéticos" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "patéticas" and "patéticos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈt̪et̪ikas] versus [paˈt̪et̪ikos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "patéticas" or "patéticos" show up more?
"patéticos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,172 in our Spanish list, against #46,714 for "patéticas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "patéticas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "patéticos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,447 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "patéticas" and "patéticos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patéticas vs poéticas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #24,447 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