Which to use
“trabajo” is a noun and “tragado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #119
- “trabajo” frequency rank
- #29,427
- “tragado” frequency rank
- 29546
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trabajo | tragado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acción o efecto de trabajar (ocuparse en una actividad). | Que tiene un sentimiento intenso de atracción o amor romántico hacia alguien. |
Where the eye mixes trabajo and tragado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. trabajo and tragado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses trabajo with tragado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trabajo is [t̪ɾaˈβ̞axo] while tragado is [t̪ɾaˈɣ̞að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trabajo is recorded at frequency rank #119, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪ɾaˈβ̞axo]. tragado is at rank #29,427, tagged as anadj, pronounced [t̪ɾaˈɣ̞að̞o].
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 29546, this pair ranks #216,462 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of trabajo vs tragado
Shared letters: aort. Private to "trabajo": bj. Private to "tragado": dg.
"trabajo" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "tragado" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trabajo" and "tragado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "trabajo" or "tragado" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "trabajo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tragado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,462 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trabajo" and "tragado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trabada vs tragado". 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 #216,462 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.