deterioravsdeterioradaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,397
“deteriora” frequency rank
#35,460
“deteriorada” frequency rank
77857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deteriora deteriorada
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de deteriorar. Forma del femenino de deteriorado, participio de deteriorar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set deteriora and deteriorada apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
deteriora
11 ch
deteriorada

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deteriora is [d̪et̪eˈɾjoɾa] while deteriorada is [d̪et̪eɾjoˈɾað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “deteriora” sits inside “deteriorada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deteriora is recorded at frequency rank #42,397, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪et̪eˈɾjoɾa]. deteriorada is at rank #35,460, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪et̪eɾjoˈɾað̞a].

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 77857, this pair ranks #15,312 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of deteriora vs deteriorada

Shared letters: adeiort. Private to "deteriora": -. Private to "deteriorada": -.

"deteriora" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCV  ·  "deteriorada" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deterioraddeteriora · deetriora · deteirora · deterioar · deteriorra · deteriroa · deteroira · deterriora
  • deterioradaddeteriorada · deetriorada · deteirorada · deterioarda · deterioraad · deterioradda · deteriordaa · deteriorrada

Frequency comparison

deteriora#42,397
deteriorada#35,460

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deteriora" and "deteriorada" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deteriora" is a verb and "deteriorada" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deteriora" or "deteriorada"?
"deteriorada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,460 in our Spanish list, against #42,397 for "deteriora". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering deteriora vs deteriorada

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “deteriora”; for a participle, it's “deteriorada”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “deteriora” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list