detenidavsdetenidasTell them apart

Which to use

“detenida” and “detenidas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,583
“detenida” frequency rank
#19,088
“detenidas” frequency rank
31671
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature detenida detenidas
Definition Forma del femenino de detenido, participio de detener o de detenerse. Forma del femenino plural de detenido, participio de detener o de detenerse.

Where the eye mixes detenida and detenidas

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

8 ch
detenida
9 ch
detenidas

Visual trap between detenida and detenidas

A purely visual mix-up. detenida ([d̪et̪eˈnið̞a]) and detenidas ([d̪et̪eˈnið̞as]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “detenida” sits inside “detenidas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

detenida is recorded at frequency rank #12,583, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪et̪eˈnið̞a]. detenidas is at rank #19,088, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪et̪eˈnið̞as].

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 31671, this pair ranks #205,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of detenida vs detenidas

Shared letters: adeint. Private to "detenida": -. Private to "detenidas": s.

"detenida" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "detenidas" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • detenidaddetenida · deetnida · deteinda · detendia · deteniad · detenidda · detennida · detneida
  • detenidasddetenidas · deetnidas · deteindas · detendias · deteniads · detenidass · deteniddas · detenidsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "detenida" and "detenidas" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪et̪eˈnið̞a] versus [d̪et̪eˈnið̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "detenida" or "detenidas" show up more?
"detenida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,583 in our Spanish list, against #19,088 for "detenidas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "detenida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "detenidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #205,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "detenida" and "detenidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detengas vs detenidas". 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 #205,914 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