Which to use
“acaba” is a verb and “atada” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,232
- “acaba” frequency rank
- #19,314
- “atada” frequency rank
- 20546
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acaba | atada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acabar. | Forma del femenino singular de atado. |
Where the eye mixes acaba and atada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses acaba with atada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acaba is [aˈkaβ̞a] while atada is [aˈt̪að̞a]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acaba is recorded at frequency rank #1,232, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞a]. atada is at rank #19,314, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈt̪að̞a].
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 20546, this pair ranks #258,864 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of acaba vs atada
Shared letters: a. Private to "acaba": bc. Private to "atada": dt.
"acaba" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "atada" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acaba" for "atada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "acaba" or "atada" show up more?
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 "acaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "atada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,864 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acaba" and "atada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "añadí vs atada". 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 #258,864 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.