patosvsplazosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,666
“patos” frequency rank
#8,425
“plazos” frequency rank
25091
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature patos plazos
Definition Forma del plural de pato. Forma del plural de plazo.

Where the eye mixes patos and plazos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
patos
6 ch
plazos

Why the eye confuses patos with plazos

A purely visual mix-up. patos ([ˈpat̪os]) and plazos ([ˈplasos]) 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 25091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

patos is recorded at frequency rank #16,666, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪os]. plazos is at rank #8,425, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈplasos].

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 25091, this pair ranks #238,047 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of patos vs plazos

Shared letters: aops. Private to "patos": t. Private to "plazos": lz.

"patos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "plazos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patospaots · patoss · pattos · ppatos · ptaos
  • plazoslpazos · palzos · plaozs · plazoss · plazso · plazzos · pllazos · plzaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "patos" for "plazos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpat̪os] versus [ˈplasos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "patos" or "plazos"?
"plazos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,425 in our Spanish list, against #16,666 for "patos". 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 "patos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "plazos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #238,047 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "patos" and "plazos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patos vs potes". 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 #238,047 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