retrasadosvsretratadoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: retrasados is a participle, retratado is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retrasados” is a participle and “retratado” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,217
“retrasados” frequency rank
#26,991
“retratado” frequency rank
50208
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retrasados retratado
Definition Forma del plural de retrasado, participio de retrasar. Participio de retratar.

Where the eye mixes retrasados and retratado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. retrasados runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCVC) against retratado's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
retrasados
9 ch
retratado

Visual trap between retrasados and retratado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retrasados is [ret̪ɾaˈsað̞os] while retratado is [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]. 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 (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50208, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retrasados is recorded at frequency rank #23,217, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈsað̞os]. retratado is at rank #26,991, tagged as averb, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o].

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 50208, this pair ranks #104,495 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of retrasados vs retratado

Shared letters: adeort. Private to "retrasados": s. Private to "retratado": -.

"retrasados" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC  ·  "retratado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retrasadosertrasados · rertasados · retarsados · retraasdos · retrasaddos · retrasadoss · retrasadso · retrasaods
  • retratadoertratado · rertatado · retartado · retraatdo · retrataddo · retrataod · retratdao · retrattado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "retrasados" for "retratado" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retrasados" is a participle and "retratado" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "retrasados" or "retratado"?
"retrasados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,217 in our Spanish list, against #26,991 for "retratado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "retrasados" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retratado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,495 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retrasados" and "retratado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retratada vs retratado". 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 #104,495 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