Which to use
“tardado” is a verb and “tardas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,464
- “tardado” frequency rank
- #31,134
- “tardas” frequency rank
- 47598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tardado | tardas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de tardar. | Forma del femenino plural de tardo. |
Where the eye mixes tardado and tardas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tardado runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against tardas's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tardado with tardas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tardado is [t̪aɾˈð̞að̞o] while tardas is [ˈt̪aɾð̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tardado is recorded at frequency rank #16,464, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪aɾˈð̞að̞o]. tardas is at rank #31,134, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪aɾð̞as].
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 47598, this pair ranks #119,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tardado vs tardas
Shared letters: adrt. Private to "tardado": o. Private to "tardas": s.
"tardado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "tardas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tardado" and "tardas" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tardado" or "tardas"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tardado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tardas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tardado" and "tardas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tardas vs turbas". 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 #119,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.