Which to use
“alimentaba” is a verb and “alimentada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,040
- “alimentaba” frequency rank
- #31,632
- “alimentada” frequency rank
- 70672
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | alimentaba | alimentada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de alimentar. | Forma del femenino de alimentado, participio de alimentar. |
Where the eye mixes alimentaba and alimentada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. alimentaba and alimentada follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between alimentaba and alimentada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: alimentaba is [alimẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a] while alimentada is [alimẽn̪ˈt̪að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “alimentaba” becomes d in “alimentada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
alimentaba is recorded at frequency rank #39,040, classified as averb, pronounced [alimẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]. alimentada is at rank #31,632, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [alimẽn̪ˈt̪að̞a].
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 70672, this pair ranks #29,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of alimentaba vs alimentada
Shared letters: aeilmnt. Private to "alimentaba": b. Private to "alimentada": d.
"alimentaba" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCV · "alimentada" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- alimentaba ← ailmentaba · aliemntaba · alimenatba · alimenntaba · alimentaab · alimentabba · alimentava · alimentbaa
- alimentada ← ailmentada · aliemntada · alimenatda · alimenntada · alimentaad · alimentadda · alimentdaa · alimenttada
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "alimentaba" for "alimentada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alimentaba" or "alimentada" show up more?
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 "alimentaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alimentada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "alimentaba" and "alimentada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alimentaba vs alimentadas". 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 #29,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.