activavsactivadaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: activa is a adjective, activada is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“activa” is an adjective and “activada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,434
“activa” frequency rank
#28,213
“activada” frequency rank
30647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature activa activada
Definition Forma del femenino singular de activo. Forma del femenino de activado, participio de activar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set activa and activada apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
activa
8 ch
activada

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: activa is [akˈt̪iβ̞a] while activada is [akt̪iˈβ̞að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “activa” sits inside “activada”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

activa is recorded at frequency rank #2,434, classified as anadj, pronounced [akˈt̪iβ̞a]. activada is at rank #28,213, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [akt̪iˈβ̞að̞a].

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 30647, this pair ranks #210,965 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of activa vs activada

Shared letters: acitv. Private to "activa": -. Private to "activada": d.

"activa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "activada" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • activaacctiva · acitva · actiav · actiba · activva · acttiva · actvia · atciva
  • activadaacctivada · acitvada · actiavda · actibada · activaad · activadda · activdaa · activvada

Frequency comparison

activa#2,434
activada#28,213

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "activa" and "activada" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "activa" is an adjective and "activada" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "activa" or "activada"?
"activa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,434 in our Spanish list, against #28,213 for "activada". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering activa vs activada

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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