destacabavsdestacadaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#26,404
“destacaba” frequency rank
#9,624
“destacada” frequency rank
36028
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature destacaba destacada
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de destacar. Forma del femenino de destacado, participio de destacar.

Where the eye mixes destacaba and destacada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
destacaba
9 ch
destacada

Why the eye confuses destacaba with destacada

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: destacaba is [d̪est̪aˈkaβ̞a] while destacada is [d̪est̪aˈkað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “destacaba” becomes d in “destacada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36028, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

destacaba is recorded at frequency rank #26,404, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪est̪aˈkaβ̞a]. destacada is at rank #9,624, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪est̪aˈkað̞a].

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 36028, this pair ranks #182,869 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of destacaba vs destacada

Shared letters: acdest. Private to "destacaba": b. Private to "destacada": -.

"destacaba" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "destacada" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • destacabaddestacaba · desatcaba · desstacaba · destaacba · destacaab · destacabba · destacava · destacbaa
  • destacadaddestacada · desatcada · desstacada · destaacda · destacaad · destacadda · destaccada · destacdaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "destacaba" and "destacada" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "destacaba" is a verb and "destacada" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "destacaba" vs "destacada" - which ranks higher?
"destacada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,624 in our Spanish list, against #26,404 for "destacaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "destacaba" and "destacada" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "destacaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destacada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,869 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "destacaba" and "destacada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destacaba vs destacaban". 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 #182,869 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