Which to use
“adelanta” is a verb and “adelante” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,856
- “adelanta” frequency rank
- #733
- “adelante” frequency rank
- 18589
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adelanta | adelante |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de adelantar o de adelantarse. | Más allá o más arriba. En el frente, en la parte anterior (en oposición a la posterior). |
Where the eye mixes adelanta and adelante
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. adelanta and adelante follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses adelanta with adelante
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: adelanta is [að̞eˈlãn̪t̪a] while adelante is [að̞eˈlãn̪t̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “adelanta” becomes e in “adelante”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adelanta is recorded at frequency rank #17,856, classified as averb, pronounced [að̞eˈlãn̪t̪a]. adelante is at rank #733, tagged as anadv, pronounced [að̞eˈlãn̪t̪e].
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 18589, this pair ranks #267,271 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adelanta vs adelante
Shared letters: adelnt. Private to "adelanta": -. Private to "adelante": -.
"adelanta" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV · "adelante" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "adelanta" and "adelante" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "adelanta" vs "adelante" - which ranks higher?
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 "adelanta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adelante" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #267,271 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adelanta" and "adelante" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Adelaida vs adelanta". 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 #267,271 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.