Which to use
“acentúa” is a verb and “acentuada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,614
- “acentúa” frequency rank
- #49,377
- “acentuada” frequency rank
- 80991
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acentúa | acentuada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acentuar. | Forma del femenino de acentuado, participio de acentuar. |
Where the eye mixes acentúa and acentuada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. acentúa runs 7 letters (VCVCCVV) against acentuada's 9 (VCVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses acentúa with acentuada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acentúa is [asẽn̪ˈt̪ua] while acentuada is [asẽn̪ˈt̪wað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acentúa is recorded at frequency rank #31,614, classified as averb, pronounced [asẽn̪ˈt̪ua]. acentuada is at rank #49,377, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [asẽn̪ˈt̪wað̞a].
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 80991, this pair ranks #10,968 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of acentúa vs acentuada
Shared letters: acent. Private to "acentúa": ú. Private to "acentuada": du.
"acentúa" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "acentuada" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- acentuada ← accentuada · acenntuada · acentauda · acenttuada · acentuaad · acentuadda · acentudaa · acenutada
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acentúa" for "acentuada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "acentúa" or "acentuada" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "acentúa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "acentuada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #10,968 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acentúa" and "acentuada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acentuada vs acentuar". 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 #10,968 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.