prestadovsprestaronWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“prestado” and “prestaron” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,343
“prestado” frequency rank
#23,187
“prestaron” frequency rank
29530
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prestado prestaron
Definition Participio de prestar o de prestarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de prestar o de prestarse.

Where the eye mixes prestado and prestaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. prestado runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCV) against prestaron's 9 (CCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
prestado
9 ch
prestaron

Visual trap between prestado and prestaron

A purely visual mix-up. prestado ([pɾesˈt̪að̞o]) and prestaron ([pɾesˈt̪aɾõn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prestado is recorded at frequency rank #6,343, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾesˈt̪að̞o]. prestaron is at rank #23,187, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾesˈt̪aɾõn].

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 29530, this pair ranks #216,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prestado vs prestaron

Shared letters: aeoprst. Private to "prestado": d. Private to "prestaron": n.

"prestado" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV  ·  "prestaron" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prestado ← perstado · pprestado · presatdo · presstado · prestaddo · prestaod · prestdao · presttado
  • prestaron ← perstaron · pprestaron · presatron · presstaron · prestaorn · prestarno · prestaronn · prestarron

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "prestado" for "prestaron" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾesˈt̪að̞o] versus [pɾesˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "prestado" vs "prestaron" - which ranks higher?
"prestado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,343 in our Spanish list, against #23,187 for "prestaron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "prestado" and "prestaron" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prestado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prestaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #216,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prestado" and "prestaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prestaron vs prestarse". 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 #216,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list