Which to use
“destacada” is a participle and “destacan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,624
- “destacada” frequency rank
- #5,821
- “destacan” frequency rank
- 15445
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | destacada | destacan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de destacado, participio de destacar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de destacar. |
Where the eye mixes destacada and destacan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. destacada runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against destacan's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: destacada vs destacan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: destacada is [d̪est̪aˈkað̞a] while destacan is [d̪esˈt̪akãn]. 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 15445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
destacada is recorded at frequency rank #9,624, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪est̪aˈkað̞a]. destacan is at rank #5,821, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪akãn].
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 15445, this pair ranks #280,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of destacada vs destacan
Shared letters: acdest. Private to "destacada": -. Private to "destacan": n.
"destacada" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "destacan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "destacada" and "destacan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "destacada" or "destacan" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "destacada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "destacan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #280,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "destacada" and "destacan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destacaban vs destacada". 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 #280,117 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.