pillavspilladoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,541
“pilla” frequency rank
#16,671
“pillado” frequency rank
40212
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pilla pillado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pillar. Juego infantil que consiste en perseguir a alguien hasta tocarlo o atraparlo. Tiene muchas variantes, según se juegue de a dos o más personas y con reglas que faciliten o dificulten el pillar a los que escapan.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
pilla
7 ch
pillado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pilla is [ˈpiʝa] while pillado is [piˈʝað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pilla” sits inside “pillado”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pilla is recorded at frequency rank #23,541, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpiʝa]. pillado is at rank #16,671, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piˈʝað̞o].

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 40212, this pair ranks #160,297 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pilla vs pillado

Shared letters: ailp. Private to "pilla": -. Private to "pillado": do.

"pilla" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pillado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pillaiplla · pilal · plila · ppilla
  • pilladoipllado · pilado · pilaldo · pilladdo · pillaod · pilldao · plilado · ppillado

Frequency comparison

pilla#23,541
pillado#16,671

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pilla" and "pillado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pilla" is a verb and "pillado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pilla" or "pillado"?
"pillado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,671 in our Spanish list, against #23,541 for "pilla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pilla vs pillado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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