radiovsrápidoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: radio is a noun, rápido is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“radio” is a noun and “rápido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#833
“radio” frequency rank
#881
“rápido” frequency rank
1714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature radio rápido
Definition Segmento de recta que tiene por extremos el punto centro y un punto cualquiera de la circunferencia. Que se mueve a gran velocidad o rapidez.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set radio and rápido apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
radio
6 ch
rápido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: radio is [ˈrað̞jo] while rápido is [ˈrapið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

radio is recorded at frequency rank #833, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈrað̞jo]. rápido is at rank #881, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈrapið̞o].

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 1714, this pair ranks #321,570 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of radio vs rápido

Shared letters: dior. Private to "radio": a. Private to "rápido": .

"radio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "rápido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • radioardio · raddio · radoi · raido · rdaio · rradio

Frequency comparison

radio#833
rápido#881

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "radio" and "rápido" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "radio" is a noun and "rápido" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "radio" or "rápido"?
"radio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #833 in our Spanish list, against #881 for "rápido". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering radio vs rápido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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