complicadavscomplicadasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,636
“complicada” frequency rank
#13,871
“complicadas” frequency rank
20507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature complicada complicadas
Definition Forma del femenino de complicado, participio de complicar. Forma del femenino plural de complicado, participio de complicar.

Where the eye mixes complicada and complicadas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. complicada runs 10 letters (CVCCCVCVCV) against complicadas's 11 (CVCCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
complicada
11 ch
complicadas

Why the eye confuses complicada with complicadas

A purely visual mix-up. complicada ([kõmpliˈkað̞a]) and complicadas ([kõmpliˈkað̞as]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “complicada” sits inside “complicadas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

complicada is recorded at frequency rank #6,636, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kõmpliˈkað̞a]. complicadas is at rank #13,871, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõmpliˈkað̞as].

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 20507, this pair ranks #259,035 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of complicada vs complicadas

Shared letters: acdilmop. Private to "complicada": -. Private to "complicadas": s.

"complicada" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "complicadas" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • complicada ← ccomplicada · cmoplicada · comlpicada · commplicada · compilcada · complciada · compliacda · complicaad
  • complicadas ← ccomplicadas · cmoplicadas · comlpicadas · commplicadas · compilcadas · complciadas · compliacdas · complicaads

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "complicada" for "complicadas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõmpliˈkað̞a] versus [kõmpliˈkað̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "complicada" or "complicadas" show up more?
"complicada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,636 in our Spanish list, against #13,871 for "complicadas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "complicada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "complicadas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #259,035 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "complicada" and "complicadas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "complicada vs complicando". 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 #259,035 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