recadovsrecadosWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,086
“recado” frequency rank
#46,776
“recados” frequency rank
77862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recado recados
Definition Acción o efecto de recadar. Forma del plural de recado.

Where the eye mixes recado and recados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. recado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against recados's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
recado
7 ch
recados

Why the eye confuses recado with recados

A purely visual mix-up. recado ([reˈkað̞o]) and recados ([reˈkað̞os]) 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 extra letter(s) - “recado” sits inside “recados”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recado is recorded at frequency rank #31,086, classified as anoun, pronounced [reˈkað̞o]. recados is at rank #46,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈkað̞os].

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 77862, this pair ranks #15,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of recado vs recados

Shared letters: acdeor. Private to "recado": -. Private to "recados": s.

"recado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "recados" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recado ← ercado · reacdo · recaddo · recaod · reccado · recdao · rrecado
  • recados ← ercados · reacdos · recaddos · recadoss · recadso · recaods · reccados · recdaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recado" for "recados" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkað̞o] versus [reˈkað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "recado" or "recados"?
"recado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,086 in our Spanish list, against #46,776 for "recados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recado" and "recados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recados vs regado". 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 #15,305 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