Which to use
“tardío” and “tardíos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,700
- “tardío” frequency rank
- #46,243
- “tardíos” frequency rank
- 64943
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tardío | tardíos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que se ejecuta o sucede con posterioridad a lo esperado. | Forma del masculino plural de tardío. |
Where the eye mixes tardío and tardíos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tardío runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against tardíos's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tardío with tardíos
A purely visual mix-up. tardío ([t̪aɾˈð̞io]) and tardíos ([t̪aɾˈð̞ios]) 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 extra letter(s) - “tardío” sits inside “tardíos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tardío is recorded at frequency rank #18,700, classified as anadj, pronounced [t̪aɾˈð̞io]. tardíos is at rank #46,243, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t̪aɾˈð̞ios].
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 64943, this pair ranks #44,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tardío vs tardíos
Shared letters: adortí. Private to "tardío": -. Private to "tardíos": s.
"tardío" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "tardíos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tardío" and "tardíos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tardío" or "tardíos" show up more?
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 "tardío" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tardíos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #44,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tardío" and "tardíos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tardíos vs tarros". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #44,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.