denegadavsdenegarConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#34,049
“denegada” frequency rank
#43,501
“denegar” frequency rank
77550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature denegada denegar
Definition Forma del femenino de denegado, participio de denegar. No conceder lo que se pide o solicita.

Where the eye mixes denegada and denegar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. denegada runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against denegar's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
denegada
7 ch
denegar

Look-alike desk: denegada vs denegar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: denegada is [d̪eneˈɣ̞að̞a] while denegar is [d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ]. 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 77550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

denegada is recorded at frequency rank #34,049, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eneˈɣ̞að̞a]. denegar is at rank #43,501, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eneˈɣ̞aɾ].

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 77550, this pair ranks #15,833 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of denegada vs denegar

Shared letters: adegn. Private to "denegada": -. Private to "denegar": r.

"denegada" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "denegar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • denegada ← ddenegada · deengada · deneagda · denegaad · denegadda · denegdaa · deneggada · dengeada
  • denegar ← ddenegar · deengar · deneagr · denegarr · deneggar · denegra · dengear · dennegar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "denegada" for "denegar" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "denegada" is a participle and "denegar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "denegada" vs "denegar" - which ranks higher?
"denegada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,049 in our Spanish list, against #43,501 for "denegar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "denegada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "denegar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,833 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "denegada" and "denegar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denegar vs develar". 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 #15,833 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