atravesabavsatravesadoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#28,644
“atravesaba” frequency rank
#16,761
“atravesado” frequency rank
45405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atravesaba atravesado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de atravesar o de atravesarse. El que no mira derecho, sinocomo los bizcos.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set atravesaba and atravesado apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
atravesaba
10 ch
atravesado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: atravesaba is [at̪ɾaβ̞eˈsaβ̞a] while atravesado is [at̪ɾaβ̞eˈsað̞o]. 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 45405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atravesaba is recorded at frequency rank #28,644, classified as averb, pronounced [at̪ɾaβ̞eˈsaβ̞a]. atravesado is at rank #16,761, tagged as anadj, pronounced [at̪ɾaβ̞eˈsað̞o].

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 45405, this pair ranks #131,610 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of atravesaba vs atravesado

Shared letters: aerstv. Private to "atravesaba": b. Private to "atravesado": do.

"atravesaba" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV  ·  "atravesado" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atravesabaartavesaba · atarvesaba · atrabesaba · atraevsaba · atraveasba · atravesaab · atravesabba · atravesava
  • atravesadoartavesado · atarvesado · atrabesado · atraevsado · atraveasdo · atravesaddo · atravesaod · atravesdao

Frequency comparison

atravesaba#28,644
atravesado#16,761

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "atravesaba" and "atravesado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "atravesaba" is a verb and "atravesado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "atravesaba" or "atravesado"?
"atravesado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,761 in our Spanish list, against #28,644 for "atravesaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering atravesaba vs atravesado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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