tardíasvstardíoTell them apart

Which to use

“tardías” and “tardío” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,038
“tardías” frequency rank
#18,700
“tardío” frequency rank
63738
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tardías tardío
Definition Forma del femenino plural de tardío. Que se ejecuta o sucede con posterioridad a lo esperado.

Where the eye mixes tardías and tardío

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tardías runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against tardío's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
tardías
6 ch
tardío

Why the eye confuses tardías with tardío

A purely visual mix-up. tardías ([t̪aɾˈð̞ias]) and tardío ([t̪aɾˈð̞io]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tardías is recorded at frequency rank #45,038, classified as anadj, pronounced [t̪aɾˈð̞ias]. tardío is at rank #18,700, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t̪aɾˈð̞io].

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 63738, this pair ranks #47,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tardías vs tardío

Shared letters: adrtí. Private to "tardías": s. Private to "tardío": o.

"tardías" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "tardío" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tardías" and "tardío" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t̪aɾˈð̞ias] versus [t̪aɾˈð̞io]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tardías" vs "tardío" - which ranks higher?
"tardío" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,700 in our Spanish list, against #45,038 for "tardías". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tardías" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tardío" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tardías" and "tardío" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tardías vs tardíos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #47,785 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