cuestionadavscuestionanConfusable pair

Quick tell: cuestionada is a participle, cuestionan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cuestionada” is a participle and “cuestionan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,586
“cuestionada” frequency rank
#23,012
“cuestionan” frequency rank
48598
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuestionada cuestionan
Definition Forma del femenino de cuestionado, participio de cuestionar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cuestionar.

Where the eye mixes cuestionada and cuestionan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. cuestionada runs 11 letters (CVVCCVVCVCV) against cuestionan's 10 (CVVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
cuestionada
10 ch
cuestionan

Look-alike desk: cuestionada vs cuestionan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cuestionada is [kwest̪joˈnað̞a] while cuestionan is [kwesˈt̪jonãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuestionada is recorded at frequency rank #25,586, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [kwest̪joˈnað̞a]. cuestionan is at rank #23,012, tagged as averb, pronounced [kwesˈt̪jonãn].

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 48598, this pair ranks #113,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cuestionada vs cuestionan

Shared letters: aceinostu. Private to "cuestionada": d. Private to "cuestionan": -.

"cuestionada" · 11 letters · shape CVVCCVVCVCV  ·  "cuestionan" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuestionadaccuestionada · ceustionada · cuesitonada · cuesstionada · cuestinoada · cuestioanda · cuestionaad · cuestionadda
  • cuestionanccuestionan · ceustionan · cuesitonan · cuesstionan · cuestinoan · cuestioann · cuestionann · cuestionnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuestionada" and "cuestionan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cuestionada" is a participle and "cuestionan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cuestionada" or "cuestionan" show up more?
"cuestionan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,012 in our Spanish list, against #25,586 for "cuestionada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuestionada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuestionan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #113,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuestionada" and "cuestionan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuestionada vs cuestionados". 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 #113,575 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