controladovscontroladorTell them apart

Quick tell: controlado is a verb, controlador is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“controlado” is a verb and “controlador” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,001
“controlado” frequency rank
#17,651
“controlador” frequency rank
24652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature controlado controlador
Definition Participio de controlar o de controlarse. Que controla.

Where the eye mixes controlado and controlador

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.

10 ch
controlado
11 ch
controlador

Visual trap between controlado and controlador

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: controlado is [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞o] while controlador is [kõn̪t̪ɾolaˈð̞oɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “controlado” sits inside “controlador”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

controlado is recorded at frequency rank #7,001, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞o]. controlador is at rank #17,651, tagged as anadj, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾolaˈð̞oɾ].

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 24652, this pair ranks #240,147 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of controlado vs controlador

Shared letters: acdlnort. Private to "controlado": -. Private to "controlador": -.

"controlado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "controlador" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • controladoccontrolado · cnotrolado · conntrolado · conrtolado · contorlado · contrloado · controaldo · controladdo
  • controladorccontrolador · cnotrolador · conntrolador · conrtolador · contorlador · contrloador · controaldor · controladdor

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "controlado" for "controlador" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "controlado" is a verb and "controlador" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "controlado" or "controlador"?
"controlado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,001 in our Spanish list, against #17,651 for "controlador". 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 "controlado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlador" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #240,147 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "controlado" and "controlador" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlador vs controladora". 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 #240,147 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