peladosvspicadosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pelados is a participle, picados is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pelados” is a participle and “picados” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,377
“pelados” frequency rank
#49,193
“picados” frequency rank
88570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pelados picados
Definition Forma del plural de pelado, participio de pelar o de pelarse. Forma del plural de picado.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pelados and picados apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
pelados
7 ch
picados

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pelados is [peˈlað̞os] while picados is [piˈkað̞os]. 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 (participle vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pelados is recorded at frequency rank #39,377, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [peˈlað̞os]. picados is at rank #49,193, tagged as anadj, pronounced [piˈkað̞os].

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 88570, this pair ranks #3,677 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pelados vs picados

Shared letters: adops. Private to "pelados": el. Private to "picados": ci.

"pelados" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "picados" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peladoseplados · pealdos · peladdos · peladoss · peladso · pelaods · peldaos · pellados
  • picadosipcados · pciados · piacdos · picaddos · picadoss · picadso · picaods · piccados

Frequency comparison

pelados#39,377
picados#49,193

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pelados" and "picados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pelados" is a participle and "picados" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pelados" or "picados"?
"pelados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,377 in our Spanish list, against #49,193 for "picados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pelados vs picados

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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