Which to use
“autoriza” is a verb and “autorizada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,848
- “autoriza” frequency rank
- #10,103
- “autorizada” frequency rank
- 23951
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | autoriza | autorizada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de autorizar. | Forma del femenino de autorizado, participio de autorizar. |
Where the eye mixes autoriza and autorizada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. autoriza runs 8 letters (VVCVCVCV) against autorizada's 10 (VVCVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between autoriza and autorizada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: autoriza is [awt̪oˈɾisa] while autorizada is [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “autoriza” sits inside “autorizada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
autoriza is recorded at frequency rank #13,848, classified as averb, pronounced [awt̪oˈɾisa]. autorizada is at rank #10,103, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞a].
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 23951, this pair ranks #243,409 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of autoriza vs autorizada
Shared letters: aiortuz. Private to "autoriza": -. Private to "autorizada": d.
"autoriza" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCVCV · "autorizada" · 10 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- autoriza ← atuoriza · auotriza · autoirza · autoriaz · autorizza · autorriza · autorzia · autroiza
- autorizada ← atuorizada · auotrizada · autoirzada · autoriazda · autorizaad · autorizadda · autorizdaa · autorizzada
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "autoriza" for "autorizada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "autoriza" or "autorizada" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "autoriza" and "autorizada" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "autoriza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "autorizada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,409 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "autoriza" and "autorizada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "autoriza vs autorizaba". 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 #243,409 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.