asustabavsasustadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: asustaba is a verb, asustado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#46,944
“asustaba” frequency rank
#11,905
“asustado” frequency rank
58849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature asustaba asustado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de asustar o de asustarse. asustado ¦ plural: asustados ¦ femenino: asustada ¦ femenino plural: asustadas ¦ superlativo: asustadísimo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set asustaba and asustado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
asustaba
8 ch
asustado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: asustaba is [asusˈt̪aβ̞a] while asustado is [asusˈt̪að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

asustaba is recorded at frequency rank #46,944, classified as averb, pronounced [asusˈt̪aβ̞a]. asustado is at rank #11,905, tagged as anadj, pronounced [asusˈt̪að̞o].

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 58849, this pair ranks #64,917 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of asustaba vs asustado

Shared letters: astu. Private to "asustaba": b. Private to "asustado": do.

"asustaba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "asustado" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • asustabaassustaba · assutaba · asusatba · asusstaba · asustaab · asustabba · asustava · asustbaa
  • asustadoassustado · assutado · asusatdo · asusstado · asustaddo · asustaod · asustdao · asusttado

Frequency comparison

asustaba#46,944
asustado#11,905

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "asustaba" and "asustado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "asustaba" is a verb and "asustado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "asustaba" or "asustado"?
"asustado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,905 in our Spanish list, against #46,944 for "asustaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering asustaba vs asustado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “asustaba”; for an adjective, it's “asustado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “asustaba” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list