abandonadavsabandonarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: abandonada is a participle, abandonar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“abandonada” is a participle and “abandonar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,563
“abandonada” frequency rank
#3,096
“abandonar” frequency rank
12659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abandonada abandonar
Definition Forma del femenino de abandonado. Dejar, desamparar a una persona, animal o cosa. No hacer caso de ella.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abandonada and abandonar apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
abandonada
9 ch
abandonar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abandonada is [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnað̞a] while abandonar is [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnaɾ]. 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 (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abandonada is recorded at frequency rank #9,563, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnað̞a]. abandonar is at rank #3,096, tagged as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnaɾ].

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 12659, this pair ranks #290,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abandonada vs abandonar

Shared letters: abdno. Private to "abandonada": -. Private to "abandonar": r.

"abandonada" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCV  ·  "abandonar" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abandonadaaabndonada · abadnonada · abanddonada · abandnoada · abandoanda · abandonaad · abandonadda · abandondaa
  • abandonaraabndonar · abadnonar · abanddonar · abandnoar · abandoanr · abandonarr · abandonnar · abandonra

Frequency comparison

abandonada#9,563
abandonar#3,096

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abandonada" and "abandonar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abandonada" is a participle and "abandonar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "abandonada" or "abandonar"?
"abandonar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,096 in our Spanish list, against #9,563 for "abandonada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abandonada vs abandonar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “abandonada”; for a verb, it's “abandonar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abandonada” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list