alcanzadavsalcanzarWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#24,368
“alcanzada” frequency rank
#1,835
“alcanzar” frequency rank
26203
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcanzada alcanzar
Definition Forma del femenino de alcanzado. Avanzar y llegar hasta algo o alguien que va adelante, física o figuradamente.

Where the eye mixes alcanzada and alcanzar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. alcanzada runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCV) against alcanzar's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
alcanzada
8 ch
alcanzar

Why the eye confuses alcanzada with alcanzar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alcanzada is [alkãnˈsað̞a] while alcanzar is [alkãnˈsaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcanzada is recorded at frequency rank #24,368, classified as anadj, pronounced [alkãnˈsað̞a]. alcanzar is at rank #1,835, tagged as averb, pronounced [alkãnˈsaɾ].

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 26203, this pair ranks #232,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcanzada vs alcanzar

Shared letters: aclnz. Private to "alcanzada": d. Private to "alcanzar": r.

"alcanzada" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "alcanzar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcanzadaaclanzada · alacnzada · alcanazda · alcannzada · alcanzaad · alcanzadda · alcanzdaa · alcanzzada
  • alcanzaraclanzar · alacnzar · alcanazr · alcannzar · alcanzarr · alcanzra · alcanzzar · alcaznar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alcanzada" for "alcanzar" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "alcanzada" is an adjective and "alcanzar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "alcanzada" or "alcanzar"?
"alcanzar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,835 in our Spanish list, against #24,368 for "alcanzada". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "alcanzada" and "alcanzar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanzada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanzar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #232,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcanzada" and "alcanzar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcanzada vs alcanzas". 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 #232,808 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list