tapadovstapadosConfusable pair

Quick tell: tapado is a adjective, tapados is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tapado” is an adjective and “tapados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,509
“tapado” frequency rank
#39,477
“tapados” frequency rank
60986
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tapado tapados
Definition Cubierto, oculto, generalmente por algún objeto. Forma del plural de tapado, participio de tapar o de taparse.

Where the eye mixes tapado and tapados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tapado runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against tapados's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tapado
7 ch
tapados

Look-alike desk: tapado vs tapados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tapado is [t̪aˈpað̞o] while tapados is [t̪aˈpað̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tapado” sits inside “tapados”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tapado is recorded at frequency rank #21,509, classified as anadj, pronounced [t̪aˈpað̞o]. tapados is at rank #39,477, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [t̪aˈpað̞os].

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 60986, this pair ranks #57,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tapado vs tapados

Shared letters: adopt. Private to "tapado": -. Private to "tapados": s.

"tapado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tapados" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tapado ← atpado · taapdo · tapaddo · tapaod · tapdao · tappado · tpaado · ttapado
  • tapados ← atpados · taapdos · tapaddos · tapadoss · tapadso · tapaods · tapdaos · tappados

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tapado" and "tapados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tapado" is an adjective and "tapados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tapado" vs "tapados" - which ranks higher?
"tapado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,509 in our Spanish list, against #39,477 for "tapados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tapado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tapados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,015 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tapado" and "tapados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tallados vs tapados". 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 #57,015 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