controladavscontroladosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,779
“controlada” frequency rank
#12,562
“controlados” frequency rank
21341
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature controlada controlados
Definition Forma del femenino de controlado, participio de controlar o de controlarse. Forma del plural de controlado, participio de controlar o de controlarse.

Where the eye mixes controlada and controlados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
controlada
11 ch
controlados

Visual trap between controlada and controlados

A purely visual mix-up. controlada ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞a]) and controlados ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞os]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21341, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

controlada is recorded at frequency rank #8,779, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞a]. controlados is at rank #12,562, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞os].

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 21341, this pair ranks #255,359 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of controlada vs controlados

Shared letters: acdlnort. Private to "controlada": -. Private to "controlados": s.

"controlada" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "controlados" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • controladaccontrolada · cnotrolada · conntrolada · conrtolada · contorlada · contrloada · controalda · controlaad
  • controladosccontrolados · cnotrolados · conntrolados · conrtolados · contorlados · contrloados · controaldos · controladdos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "controlada" for "controlados" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞a] versus [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "controlada" or "controlados"?
"controlada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,779 in our Spanish list, against #12,562 for "controlados". 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 "controlada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #255,359 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "controlada" and "controlados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controladora vs controlados". 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 #255,359 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