retrasandovsretratadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,049
“retrasando” frequency rank
#26,991
“retratado” frequency rank
68040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retrasando retratado
Definition Gerundio de retrasar. Participio de retratar.

Where the eye mixes retrasando and retratado

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

10 ch
retrasando
9 ch
retratado

Look-alike desk: retrasando vs retratado

A purely visual mix-up. retrasando ([ret̪ɾaˈsãn̪d̪o]) and retratado ([ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]) 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 68040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retrasando is recorded at frequency rank #41,049, classified as averb, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈsãn̪d̪o]. 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 68040, this pair ranks #35,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of retrasando vs retratado

Shared letters: adeort. Private to "retrasando": ns. Private to "retratado": -.

"retrasando" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "retratado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retrasandoertrasando · rertasando · retarsando · retraasndo · retrasadno · retrasanddo · retrasanndo · retrasanod
  • retratadoertratado · rertatado · retartado · retraatdo · retrataddo · retrataod · retratdao · retrattado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "retrasando" for "retratado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ret̪ɾaˈsãn̪d̪o] versus [ret̪ɾaˈt̪að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "retrasando" or "retratado"?
"retratado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,991 in our Spanish list, against #41,049 for "retrasando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "retrasando" 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 #35,540 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retrasando" and "retratado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retrasan vs retrasando". 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 #35,540 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