Which to use
“controlaba” is a verb and “controlada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,196
- “controlaba” frequency rank
- #8,779
- “controlada” frequency rank
- 33975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | controlaba | controlada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse. | Forma del femenino de controlado, participio de controlar o de controlarse. |
Where the eye mixes controlaba and controlada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between controlaba and controlada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: controlaba is [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaβ̞a] while controlada is [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “controlaba” becomes d in “controlada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
controlaba is recorded at frequency rank #25,196, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaβ̞a]. controlada is at rank #8,779, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞a].
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 33975, this pair ranks #193,871 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of controlaba vs controlada
Shared letters: aclnort. Private to "controlaba": b. Private to "controlada": d.
"controlaba" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV · "controlada" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- controlaba ← ccontrolaba · cnotrolaba · conntrolaba · conrtolaba · contorlaba · contrloaba · controalba · controlaab
- controlada ← ccontrolada · cnotrolada · conntrolada · conrtolada · contorlada · contrloada · controalda · controlaad
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "controlaba" for "controlada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "controlaba" or "controlada" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "controlaba" and "controlada" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "controlaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "controlada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,871 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "controlaba" and "controlada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlaba vs controlaban". 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 #193,871 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.