autorizanvsautorizandoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,282
“autorizan” frequency rank
#48,234
“autorizando” frequency rank
90516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature autorizan autorizando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de autorizar. Gerundio de autorizar.

Where the eye mixes autorizan and autorizando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. autorizan runs 9 letters (VVCVCVCVC) against autorizando's 11 (VVCVCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
autorizan
11 ch
autorizando

Visual trap between autorizan and autorizando

A purely visual mix-up. autorizan ([awt̪oˈɾisãn]) and autorizando ([awt̪oɾiˈsãn̪d̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “autorizan” sits inside “autorizando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

autorizan is recorded at frequency rank #42,282, classified as averb, pronounced [awt̪oˈɾisãn]. autorizando is at rank #48,234, tagged as averb, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈsãn̪d̪o].

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 90516, this pair ranks #2,462 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of autorizan vs autorizando

Shared letters: ainortuz. Private to "autorizan": -. Private to "autorizando": d.

"autorizan" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC  ·  "autorizando" · 11 letters · shape VVCVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • autorizan ← atuorizan · auotrizan · autoirzan · autoriazn · autorizann · autorizna · autorizzan · autorrizan
  • autorizando ← atuorizando · auotrizando · autoirzando · autoriazndo · autorizadno · autorizanddo · autorizanndo · autorizanod

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "autorizan" for "autorizando" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([awt̪oˈɾisãn] versus [awt̪oɾiˈsãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "autorizan" or "autorizando"?
"autorizan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,282 in our Spanish list, against #48,234 for "autorizando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "autorizan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "autorizando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,462 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "autorizan" and "autorizando" 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 #2,462 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