pegadovspuñadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pegado is a verb, puñado is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pegado” is a verb and “puñado” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,160
“pegado” frequency rank
#9,188
“puñado” frequency rank
17348
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pegado puñado
Definition Participio de pegar. Medida de cuantificación, que abarca aproximadamente lo que cabe en un puño de la mano.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pegado and puñado apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pegado
6 ch
puñado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pegado is [peˈɣ̞að̞o] while puñado is [puˈɲað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pegado is recorded at frequency rank #8,160, classified as averb, pronounced [peˈɣ̞að̞o]. puñado is at rank #9,188, tagged as anoun, pronounced [puˈɲað̞o].

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 17348, this pair ranks #272,520 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pegado vs puñado

Shared letters: adop. Private to "pegado": eg. Private to "puñado": .

"pegado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "puñado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pegadoepgado · peagdo · pegaddo · pegaod · pegdao · peggado · pgeado · ppegado

Frequency comparison

pegado#8,160
puñado#9,188

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pegado" and "puñado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pegado" is a verb and "puñado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pegado" or "puñado"?
"pegado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,160 in our Spanish list, against #9,188 for "puñado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pegado vs puñado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pegado”; for a noun, it's “puñado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pegado” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list