tomadovstomarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,965
“tomado” frequency rank
#440
“tomar” frequency rank
2405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomado tomar
Definition Participio de tomar. Coger alguna cosa con la mano.

Where the eye mixes tomado and tomar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tomado
5 ch
tomar

Visual trap between tomado and tomar

A purely visual mix-up. tomado ([t̪oˈmað̞o]) and tomar ([t̪oˈmaɾ]) 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 2405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomado is recorded at frequency rank #1,965, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmað̞o]. tomar is at rank #440, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmaɾ].

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 2405, this pair ranks #320,391 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tomado vs tomar

Shared letters: amot. Private to "tomado": d. Private to "tomar": r.

"tomado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tomar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomadootmado · tmoado · toamdo · tomaddo · tomaod · tomdao · tommado · ttomado
  • tomarotmar · tmoar · toamr · tomarr · tommar · tomra · ttomar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tomado" for "tomar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪oˈmað̞o] versus [t̪oˈmaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomado" or "tomar"?
"tomar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #440 in our Spanish list, against #1,965 for "tomado". 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 "tomado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tomar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,391 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomado" and "tomar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tomado vs tomase". 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 #320,391 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