Which to use
“tarde” is an adverb and “tardía” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #307
- “tarde” frequency rank
- #15,737
- “tardía” frequency rank
- 16044
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tarde | tardía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A última hora, cuando el tiempo propicio ya ha pasado o cuando ya se cumplió un plazo acordado. | Forma del femenino singular de tardío. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tarde and tardía apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tarde is [ˈt̪aɾð̞e] while tardía is [t̪aɾˈð̞ia]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tarde is recorded at frequency rank #307, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈt̪aɾð̞e]. tardía is at rank #15,737, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t̪aɾˈð̞ia].
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 16044, this pair ranks #277,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tarde vs tardía
Shared letters: adrt. Private to "tarde": e. Private to "tardía": í.
"tarde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tardía" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tarde ← atrde · tadre · tardde · tared · tarrde · ttarde
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tarde" and "tardía" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tarde" or "tardía"?
Remembering tarde vs tardía
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “tarde”; for an adjective, it's “tardía”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tarde” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable