previosvsprevistosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: previos is a adjective, previstos is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#7,903
“previos” frequency rank
#12,901
“previstos” frequency rank
20804
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature previos previstos
Definition Forma del plural de previo. Forma del plural de previsto, participio irregular de prever.

Where the eye mixes previos and previstos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
previos
9 ch
previstos

Why the eye confuses previos with previstos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: previos is [ˈpɾeβ̞jos] while previstos is [pɾeˈβ̞ist̪os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

previos is recorded at frequency rank #7,903, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpɾeβ̞jos]. previstos is at rank #12,901, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [pɾeˈβ̞ist̪os].

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 20804, this pair ranks #257,714 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of previos vs previstos

Shared letters: eioprsv. Private to "previos": -. Private to "previstos": t.

"previos" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC  ·  "previstos" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • previospervios · pprevios · prebios · preivos · previoss · previso · prevois · prevvios
  • previstospervistos · pprevistos · prebistos · preivstos · previsots · previsstos · previstoss · previstso

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "previos" and "previstos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "previos" is an adjective and "previstos" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "previos" or "previstos" show up more?
"previos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,903 in our Spanish list, against #12,901 for "previstos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "previos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "previstos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #257,714 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "previos" and "previstos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "previstos vs provistas". 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 #257,714 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