Which to use
“apaga” is a verb and “apagada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,448
- “apaga” frequency rank
- #22,936
- “apagada” frequency rank
- 33384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | apaga | apagada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apagar. | Forma del femenino de apagado, participio de apagar. |
Where the eye mixes apaga and apagada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses apaga with apagada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: apaga is [aˈpaɣ̞a] while apagada is [apaˈɣ̞að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “apaga” sits inside “apagada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
apaga is recorded at frequency rank #10,448, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈpaɣ̞a]. apagada is at rank #22,936, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [apaˈɣ̞að̞a].
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 33384, this pair ranks #197,087 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of apaga vs apagada
Shared letters: agp. Private to "apaga": -. Private to "apagada": d.
"apaga" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "apagada" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "apaga" and "apagada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "apaga" or "apagada" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "apaga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apagada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,087 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "apaga" and "apagada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apagada vs apodada". 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 #197,087 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.