peladovspelanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pelado is a adjective, pelan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pelado” is an adjective and “pelan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,233
“pelado” frequency rank
#48,578
“pelan” frequency rank
65811
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pelado pelan
Definition Carente de su cobertura, en particular de pelo. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pelar o de pelarse.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pelado
5 ch
pelan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pelado is [peˈlað̞o] while pelan is [ˈpelãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pelado is recorded at frequency rank #17,233, classified as anadj, pronounced [peˈlað̞o]. pelan is at rank #48,578, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpelãn].

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 65811, this pair ranks #41,560 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pelado vs pelan

Shared letters: aelp. Private to "pelado": do. Private to "pelan": n.

"pelado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pelan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peladoeplado · pealdo · peladdo · pelaod · peldao · pellado · pleado · ppelado
  • pelaneplan · pealn · pelann · pellan · ppelan

Frequency comparison

pelado#17,233
pelan#48,578

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pelado" and "pelan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pelado" is an adjective and "pelan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pelado" or "pelan"?
"pelado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,233 in our Spanish list, against #48,578 for "pelan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pelado vs pelan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pelado”; for a verb, it's “pelan”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pelado” 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