delegadavsdelgadoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: delegada is a participle, delgado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“delegada” is a participle and “delgado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,505
“delegada” frequency rank
#5,601
“delgado” frequency rank
24106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delegada delgado
Definition Forma del femenino de delegado, participio de delegar. De poca anchura corporal.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
delegada
7 ch
delgado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delegada is [d̪eleˈɣ̞að̞a] while delgado is [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞o]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delegada is recorded at frequency rank #18,505, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eleˈɣ̞að̞a]. delgado is at rank #5,601, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪elˈɣ̞að̞o].

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 24106, this pair ranks #242,699 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of delegada vs delgado

Shared letters: adegl. Private to "delegada": -. Private to "delgado": o.

"delegada" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "delgado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delegadaddelegada · deelgada · deleagda · delegaad · delegadda · delegdaa · deleggada · delgeada
  • delgadoddelgado · deglado · delagdo · delgaddo · delgaod · delgdao · delggado · dellgado

Frequency comparison

delegada#18,505
delgado#5,601

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delegada" and "delgado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "delegada" is a participle and "delgado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "delegada" or "delgado"?
"delgado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,601 in our Spanish list, against #18,505 for "delegada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering delegada vs delgado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “delegada”; for an adjective, it's “delgado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “delegada” 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