abandonadovsabandonandoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: abandonado is a adjective, abandonando is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,672
“abandonado” frequency rank
#16,243
“abandonando” frequency rank
20915
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abandonado abandonando
Definition Se dice de algo que se encuentra descuidado o desatendido. Gerundio de abandonar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abandonado and abandonando apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
abandonado
11 ch
abandonando

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abandonado is [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnað̞o] while abandonando is [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnãn̪d̪o]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abandonado is recorded at frequency rank #4,672, classified as anadj, pronounced [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnað̞o]. abandonando is at rank #16,243, tagged as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnãn̪d̪o].

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 20915, this pair ranks #257,206 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abandonado vs abandonando

Shared letters: abdno. Private to "abandonado": -. Private to "abandonando": -.

"abandonado" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCV  ·  "abandonando" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abandonadoaabndonado · abadnonado · abanddonado · abandnoado · abandoando · abandonaddo · abandonaod · abandondao
  • abandonandoaabndonando · abadnonando · abanddonando · abandnoando · abandoanndo · abandonadno · abandonanddo · abandonanndo

Frequency comparison

abandonado#4,672
abandonando#16,243

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abandonado" and "abandonando" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abandonado" is an adjective and "abandonando" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "abandonado" or "abandonando"?
"abandonado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,672 in our Spanish list, against #16,243 for "abandonando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abandonado vs abandonando

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “abandonado”; for a verb, it's “abandonando”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abandonado” 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