Which to use
“desactiva” is a verb and “desactivada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,238
- “desactiva” frequency rank
- #45,252
- “desactivada” frequency rank
- 85490
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desactiva | desactivada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desactivar. | Forma del femenino de desactivado, participio de desactivar. |
Where the eye mixes desactiva and desactivada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. desactiva runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against desactivada's 11 (CVCVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses desactiva with desactivada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desactiva is [d̪esakˈt̪iβ̞a] while desactivada is [d̪esakt̪iˈβ̞að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “desactiva” sits inside “desactivada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desactiva is recorded at frequency rank #40,238, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esakˈt̪iβ̞a]. desactivada is at rank #45,252, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪esakt̪iˈβ̞að̞a].
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 85490, this pair ranks #6,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of desactiva vs desactivada
Shared letters: acdeistv. Private to "desactiva": -. Private to "desactivada": -.
"desactiva" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "desactivada" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- desactiva ← ddesactiva · deasctiva · desacctiva · desacitva · desactiav · desactiba · desactivva · desacttiva
- desactivada ← ddesactivada · deasctivada · desacctivada · desacitvada · desactiavda · desactibada · desactivaad · desactivadda
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "desactiva" for "desactivada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desactiva" or "desactivada" show up more?
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 "desactiva" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desactivada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desactiva" and "desactivada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desactivada vs desactivado". 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 #6,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.