arrestadavsarrestanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: arrestada is a participle, arrestan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“arrestada” is a participle and “arrestan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,736
“arrestada” frequency rank
#29,491
“arrestan” frequency rank
54227
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arrestada arrestan
Definition Forma del femenino de arrestado, participio de arrestar o de arrestarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de arrestar o de arrestarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set arrestada and arrestan apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
arrestada
8 ch
arrestan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: arrestada is [aresˈt̪að̞a] while arrestan is [aˈrest̪ãn]. 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 (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arrestada is recorded at frequency rank #24,736, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [aresˈt̪að̞a]. arrestan is at rank #29,491, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈrest̪ãn].

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 54227, this pair ranks #84,257 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arrestada vs arrestan

Shared letters: aerst. Private to "arrestada": d. Private to "arrestan": n.

"arrestada" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "arrestan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arrestadaarerstada · arestada · arresatda · arresstada · arrestaad · arrestadda · arrestdaa · arresttada
  • arrestanarerstan · arestan · arresatn · arresstan · arrestann · arrestna · arresttan · arretsan

Frequency comparison

arrestada#24,736
arrestan#29,491

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "arrestada" and "arrestan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "arrestada" is a participle and "arrestan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "arrestada" or "arrestan"?
"arrestada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,736 in our Spanish list, against #29,491 for "arrestan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering arrestada vs arrestan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “arrestada”; for a verb, it's “arrestan”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “arrestada” 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