Which to use
“descuida” is a verb and “descuidada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,802
- “descuida” frequency rank
- #31,311
- “descuidada” frequency rank
- 58113
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | descuida | descuidada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descuidar. | Forma del femenino de descuidado, participio de descuidar. |
Where the eye mixes descuida and descuidada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. descuida runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against descuidada's 10 (CVCCVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses descuida with descuidada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: descuida is [d̪esˈkwið̞a] while descuidada is [d̪eskwiˈð̞að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “descuida” sits inside “descuidada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
descuida is recorded at frequency rank #26,802, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkwið̞a]. descuidada is at rank #31,311, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪eskwiˈð̞að̞a].
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 58113, this pair ranks #67,749 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of descuida vs descuidada
Shared letters: acdeisu. Private to "descuida": -. Private to "descuidada": -.
"descuida" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "descuidada" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- descuida ← ddescuida · decsuida · desccuida · desciuda · descudia · descuiad · descuidda · desscuida
- descuidada ← ddescuidada · decsuidada · desccuidada · desciudada · descudiada · descuiadda · descuidaad · descuidadda
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "descuida" and "descuidada" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "descuida" or "descuidada" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "descuida" and "descuidada" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "descuida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "descuidada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,749 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "descuida" and "descuidada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descuidada vs descuidados". 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 #67,749 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.