críticavscriticadaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: crítica is a noun, criticada is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“crítica” is a noun and “criticada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,405
“crítica” frequency rank
#22,314
“criticada” frequency rank
23719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature crítica criticada
Definition Comentario, opinión o juicio sobre alguien o algo, en particular de manera pública y sobre obras artísticas, literarias o del espectáculo. Forma del femenino de criticado, participio de criticar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set crítica and criticada apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
crítica
9 ch
criticada

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: crítica is [ˈkɾit̪ika] while criticada is [kɾit̪iˈkað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

crítica is recorded at frequency rank #1,405, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɾit̪ika]. criticada is at rank #22,314, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [kɾit̪iˈkað̞a].

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 23719, this pair ranks #244,468 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of crítica vs criticada

Shared letters: acirt. Private to "crítica": í. Private to "criticada": d.

"crítica" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "criticada" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • criticadaccriticada · cirticada · criitcada · critciada · critiacda · criticaad · criticadda · criticcada

Frequency comparison

crítica#1,405
criticada#22,314

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "crítica" and "criticada" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "crítica" is a noun and "criticada" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "crítica" or "criticada"?
"crítica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,405 in our Spanish list, against #22,314 for "criticada". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering crítica vs criticada

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “crítica”; for a participle, it's “criticada”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “crítica” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list