Which to use
“pica” is a noun and “picado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,902
- “pica” frequency rank
- #12,669
- “picado” frequency rank
- 23571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pica | picado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lanza de 3 o más metros, compuesta de un asta con un hierro pequeño y agudo en el extremo superior. | Epíteto del patrón que se hace con picaduras para señalar un dibujo. |
Where the eye mixes pica and picado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pica runs 4 letters (CVCV) against picado's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pica vs picado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pica is [ˈpika] while picado is [piˈkað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pica” sits inside “picado”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23571, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pica is recorded at frequency rank #10,902, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpika]. picado is at rank #12,669, tagged as anadj, pronounced [piˈkað̞o].
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 23571, this pair ranks #245,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pica vs picado
Shared letters: acip. Private to "pica": -. Private to "picado": do.
"pica" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "picado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pica" and "picado" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pica" or "picado" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "picado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pica" and "picado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "picado vs picados". 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 #245,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.