retratarvsretratosConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#27,765
“retratar” frequency rank
#9,533
“retratos” frequency rank
37298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature retratar retratos
Definition Hacer un retrato. Forma del plural de retrato.

Where the eye mixes retratar and retratos

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

8 ch
retratar
8 ch
retratos

Look-alike desk: retratar vs retratos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: retratar is [ret̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ] while retratos is [reˈt̪ɾat̪os]. 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 37298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

retratar is recorded at frequency rank #27,765, classified as averb, pronounced [ret̪ɾaˈt̪aɾ]. retratos is at rank #9,533, tagged as anoun, pronounced [reˈt̪ɾat̪os].

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 37298, this pair ranks #176,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of retratar vs retratos

Shared letters: aert. Private to "retratar": -. Private to "retratos": os.

"retratar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "retratos" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • retratarertratar · rertatar · retartar · retraatr · retratarr · retratra · retrattar · retrratar
  • retratosertratos · rertatos · retartos · retraots · retratoss · retratso · retrattos · retrratos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "retratar" and "retratos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "retratar" is a verb and "retratos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "retratar" or "retratos" show up more?
"retratos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,533 in our Spanish list, against #27,765 for "retratar". 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 "retratar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "retratos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #176,039 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "retratar" and "retratos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "retrasan vs retratar". 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 #176,039 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