Which to use
“desaparecida” is a participle and “desaparecido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,485
- “desaparecida” frequency rank
- #3,624
- “desaparecido” frequency rank
- 14109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desaparecida | desaparecido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de desaparecido, participio de desaparecer o de desaparecerse. | Se dice de las personas de las que no se sabe dónde se encuentran y tampoco si continúan con vida. |
Where the eye mixes desaparecida and desaparecido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between desaparecida and desaparecido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desaparecida is [d̪esapaɾeˈsið̞a] while desaparecido is [d̪esapaɾeˈsið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “desaparecida” becomes o in “desaparecido”, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desaparecida is recorded at frequency rank #10,485, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪esapaɾeˈsið̞a]. desaparecido is at rank #3,624, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪esapaɾeˈsið̞o].
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 14109, this pair ranks #285,363 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of desaparecida vs desaparecido
Shared letters: acdeiprs. Private to "desaparecida": -. Private to "desaparecido": o.
"desaparecida" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVCV · "desaparecido" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- desaparecida ← ddesaparecida · deasparecida · desaaprecida · desapaercida · desaparceida · desapareccida · desaparecdia · desapareciad
- desaparecido ← ddesaparecido · deasparecido · desaaprecido · desapaercido · desaparceido · desapareccido · desaparecdio · desapareciddo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "desaparecida" and "desaparecido" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desaparecida" or "desaparecido" 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 "desaparecida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desaparecido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,363 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desaparecida" and "desaparecido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desaparecía vs desaparecida". 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 #285,363 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.