autorizabavsautorizadoConfusable pair

Which to use

“autorizaba” and “autorizado” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,233
“autorizaba” frequency rank
#7,256
“autorizado” frequency rank
55489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature autorizaba autorizado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de autorizar. Participio de autorizar.

Where the eye mixes autorizaba and autorizado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. autorizaba and autorizado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCVCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
autorizaba
10 ch
autorizado

Why the eye confuses autorizaba with autorizado

A purely visual mix-up. autorizaba ([awt̪oɾiˈsaβ̞a]) and autorizado ([awt̪oɾiˈsað̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

autorizaba is recorded at frequency rank #48,233, classified as averb, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈsaβ̞a]. autorizado is at rank #7,256, tagged as averb, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞o].

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 55489, this pair ranks #78,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of autorizaba vs autorizado

Shared letters: aiortuz. Private to "autorizaba": b. Private to "autorizado": d.

"autorizaba" · 10 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCV  ·  "autorizado" · 10 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • autorizabaatuorizaba · auotrizaba · autoirzaba · autoriazba · autorizaab · autorizabba · autorizava · autorizbaa
  • autorizadoatuorizado · auotrizado · autoirzado · autoriazdo · autorizaddo · autorizaod · autorizdao · autorizzado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "autorizaba" and "autorizado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([awt̪oɾiˈsaβ̞a] versus [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "autorizaba" or "autorizado" show up more?
"autorizado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,256 in our Spanish list, against #48,233 for "autorizaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "autorizaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "autorizado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #78,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "autorizaba" and "autorizado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "autorizaba vs autorizan". 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 #78,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list