pecadovspétaloConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,446
“pecado” frequency rank
#48,632
“pétalo” frequency rank
53078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pecado pétalo
Definition Trasgresión voluntaria de los mandamientos religiosos o divinos; infracción moral. Hoja modificada que forma parte de la corola de una flor

Where the eye mixes pecado and pétalo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pecado and pétalo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
pecado
6 ch
pétalo

Visual trap between pecado and pétalo

A purely visual mix-up. pecado ([peˈkað̞o]) and pétalo ([ˈpet̪alo]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pecado is recorded at frequency rank #4,446, classified as anoun, pronounced [peˈkað̞o]. pétalo is at rank #48,632, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpet̪alo].

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 53078, this pair ranks #89,609 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pecado vs pétalo

Shared letters: aop. Private to "pecado": cde. Private to "pétalo": lté.

"pecado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pétalo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pecado ← epcado · pceado · peacdo · pecaddo · pecaod · peccado · pecdao · ppecado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pecado" for "pétalo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peˈkað̞o] versus [ˈpet̪alo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pecado" vs "pétalo" - which ranks higher?
"pecado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,446 in our Spanish list, against #48,632 for "pétalo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pecado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pétalo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #89,609 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pecado" and "pétalo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pétalo 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 #89,609 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