soltóvssustoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,457
“soltó” frequency rank
#9,548
“susto” frequency rank
26005
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature soltó susto
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de soltar. Conmoción repentina del ánimo producida por el miedo y la sorpresa.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set soltó and susto apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
soltó
5 ch
susto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: soltó is [sol̪ˈt̪o] while susto is [ˈsust̪o]. 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 26005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

soltó is recorded at frequency rank #16,457, classified as averb, pronounced [sol̪ˈt̪o]. susto is at rank #9,548, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsust̪o].

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 26005, this pair ranks #233,792 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of soltó vs susto

Shared letters: ost. Private to "soltó": . Private to "susto": u.

"soltó" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "susto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sustossusto · ssuto · susot · sussto · sustto · sutso · ussto

Frequency comparison

soltó#16,457
susto#9,548

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "soltó" and "susto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "soltó" is a verb and "susto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "soltó" or "susto"?
"susto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,548 in our Spanish list, against #16,457 for "soltó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering soltó vs susto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “soltó”; for a noun, it's “susto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “soltó” 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