acompañabavsacompañadoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#19,019
“acompañaba” frequency rank
#3,823
“acompañado” frequency rank
22842
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acompañaba acompañado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de acompañar. Que vive con una pareja sexual sin haberse casado.

Where the spellings diverge

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

10 ch
acompañaba
10 ch
acompañado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acompañaba is [akõmpaˈɲaβ̞a] while acompañado is [akõmpaˈɲað̞o]. 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 22842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acompañaba is recorded at frequency rank #19,019, classified as averb, pronounced [akõmpaˈɲaβ̞a]. acompañado is at rank #3,823, tagged as anadj, pronounced [akõmpaˈɲað̞o].

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 22842, this pair ranks #248,494 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acompañaba vs acompañado

Shared letters: acmopñ. Private to "acompañaba": b. Private to "acompañado": d.

"acompañaba" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCV  ·  "acompañado" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCV

Frequency comparison

acompañaba#19,019
acompañado#3,823

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acompañaba" and "acompañado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acompañaba" is a verb and "acompañado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acompañaba" or "acompañado"?
"acompañado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,823 in our Spanish list, against #19,019 for "acompañaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acompañaba vs acompañado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “acompañaba”; for an adjective, it's “acompañado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acompañaba” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list