retrasarvsretrasosTell them apart

Quick tell: retrasar is a verb, retrasos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“retrasar” is a verb and “retrasos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,808
“retrasar” frequency rank
#18,669
“retrasos” frequency rank
36477
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retrasar retrasos
Definition Hacer que algo llegue o suceda más tarde del tiempo debido o acordado. Forma del plural de retraso.

Where the eye mixes retrasar and retrasos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. retrasar and retrasos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
retrasar
8 ch
retrasos

Look-alike desk: retrasar vs retrasos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retrasar is [ret̪ɾaˈsaɾ] while retrasos is [reˈt̪ɾasos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36477, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retrasar is recorded at frequency rank #17,808, classified as averb, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈsaɾ]. retrasos is at rank #18,669, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈt̪ɾasos].

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 36477, this pair ranks #180,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of retrasar vs retrasos

Shared letters: aerst. Private to "retrasar": -. Private to "retrasos": o.

"retrasar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "retrasos" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retrasarertrasar · rertasar · retarsar · retraasr · retrasarr · retrasra · retrassar · retrrasar
  • retrasosertrasos · rertasos · retarsos · retraoss · retrasoss · retrassos · retrrasos · retrsaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "retrasar" and "retrasos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retrasar" is a verb and "retrasos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "retrasar" vs "retrasos" - which ranks higher?
"retrasar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,808 in our Spanish list, against #18,669 for "retrasos". 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 "retrasar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retrasos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #180,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retrasar" and "retrasos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retrasan vs retrasos". 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 #180,407 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