secadovssésamoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,587
“secado” frequency rank
#29,856
“sésamo” frequency rank
53443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature secado sésamo
Definition Participio de secar. (Sesamum indicum) Planta originaria de la India y África cultivada por sus semillas, ricas en aceites vegetales, que se emplean en gastronomía.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set secado and sésamo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
secado
6 ch
sésamo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: secado is [seˈkað̞o] while sésamo is [ˈsesamo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 53443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

secado is recorded at frequency rank #23,587, classified as averb, pronounced [seˈkað̞o]. sésamo is at rank #29,856, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsesamo].

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 53443, this pair ranks #87,842 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of secado vs sésamo

Shared letters: aos. Private to "secado": cde. Private to "sésamo": .

"secado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "sésamo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • secadocecado · escado · sceado · seacdo · secaddo · secaod · seccado · secdao

Frequency comparison

secado#23,587
sésamo#29,856

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "secado" and "sésamo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "secado" is a verb and "sésamo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "secado" or "sésamo"?
"secado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,587 in our Spanish list, against #29,856 for "sésamo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering secado vs sésamo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “secado”; for a noun, it's “sésamo”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “secado” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list