usadovsusedTell them apart

Quick tell: usado is a verb, used is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“usado” is a verb and “used” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,141
“usado” frequency rank
#32,445
“used” frequency rank
34586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature usado used
Definition Participio de usar. Que es o ha sido usado.

Where the eye mixes usado and used

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
usado
4 ch
used

Visual trap between usado and used

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: usado is [uˈsað̞o] while used is /juːzd/. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

usado is recorded at frequency rank #2,141, classified as averb, pronounced [uˈsað̞o]. used is at rank #32,445, tagged as anadj, pronounced /juːzd/.

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 34586, this pair ranks #190,612 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of usado vs used

Shared letters: dsu. Private to "usado": ao. Private to "used": e.

"usado" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "used" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • usadosuado · uasdo · usaddo · usaod · usdao · ussado
  • usedsued · uced · uesd · usde · usedd · ussed

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "usado" and "used" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "usado" is a verb and "used" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "usado" vs "used" - which ranks higher?
"usado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,141 in our Spanish list, against #32,445 for "used". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "usado" and "used" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "usado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "used" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #190,612 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "usado" and "used" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "urea vs used". 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 #190,612 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