controladovscontrolanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,001
“controlado” frequency rank
#11,382
“controlan” frequency rank
18383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature controlado controlan
Definition Participio de controlar o de controlarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse.

Where the eye mixes controlado and controlan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
controlado
9 ch
controlan

Look-alike desk: controlado vs controlan

A purely visual mix-up. controlado ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞o]) and controlan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]) 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 18383, 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]. controlan is at rank #11,382, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn].

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 18383, this pair ranks #268,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of controlado vs controlan

Shared letters: aclnort. Private to "controlado": d. Private to "controlan": -.

"controlado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV  ·  "controlan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • controladoccontrolado · cnotrolado · conntrolado · conrtolado · contorlado · contrloado · controaldo · controladdo
  • controlanccontrolan · cnotrolan · conntrolan · conrtolan · contorlan · contrloan · controaln · controlann

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "controlado" and "controlan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlað̞o] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "controlado" or "controlan" show up more?
"controlado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,001 in our Spanish list, against #11,382 for "controlan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "controlado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #268,166 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "controlado" and "controlan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlado 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 #268,166 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