Which to use
“autorizada” is a participle and “autorizado” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,103
- “autorizada” frequency rank
- #7,256
- “autorizado” frequency rank
- 17359
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | autorizada | autorizado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de autorizado, participio de autorizar. | Participio de autorizar. |
Where the eye mixes autorizada and autorizado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. autorizada and autorizado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCVCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: autorizada vs autorizado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: autorizada is [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞a] while autorizado is [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “autorizada” becomes o in “autorizado”, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
autorizada is recorded at frequency rank #10,103, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈsað̞a]. 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 17359, this pair ranks #272,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of autorizada vs autorizado
Shared letters: adiortuz. Private to "autorizada": -. Private to "autorizado": -.
"autorizada" · 10 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCV · "autorizado" · 10 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- autorizada ← atuorizada · auotrizada · autoirzada · autoriazda · autorizaad · autorizadda · autorizdaa · autorizzada
- autorizado ← atuorizado · auotrizado · autoirzado · autoriazdo · autorizaddo · autorizaod · autorizdao · autorizzado
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "autorizada" and "autorizado" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "autorizada" or "autorizado" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "autorizada" 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 #272,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "autorizada" and "autorizado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "autorizada vs autorizando". 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 #272,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.