activavsactivadoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,434
“activa” frequency rank
#14,497
“activado” frequency rank
16931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature activa activado
Definition Forma del femenino singular de activo. Participio de activar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
activa
8 ch
activado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: activa is [akˈt̪iβ̞a] while activado is [akt̪iˈβ̞að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “activa” sits inside “activado”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16931, 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]. activado is at rank #14,497, tagged as averb, pronounced [akt̪iˈβ̞að̞o].

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 16931, this pair ranks #274,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of activa vs activado

Shared letters: acitv. Private to "activa": -. Private to "activado": do.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • activaacctiva · acitva · actiav · actiba · activva · acttiva · actvia · atciva
  • activadoacctivado · acitvado · actiavdo · actibado · activaddo · activaod · activdao · activvado

Frequency comparison

activa#2,434
activado#14,497

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "activa" and "activado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "activa" is an adjective and "activado" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "activa" or "activado"?
"activa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,434 in our Spanish list, against #14,497 for "activado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering activa vs activado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “activa”; for a verb, it's “activado”.
  • 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