distinguidavsdistinguidasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,123
“distinguida” frequency rank
#48,960
“distinguidas” frequency rank
73083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distinguida distinguidas
Definition Forma del femenino de distinguido, participio de distinguir. Forma del femenino plural de distinguido, participio de distinguir.

Where the eye mixes distinguida and distinguidas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. distinguida runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCVVCV) against distinguidas's 12 (CVCCVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
distinguida
12 ch
distinguidas

Look-alike desk: distinguida vs distinguidas

A purely visual mix-up. distinguida ([d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgið̞a]) and distinguidas ([d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgið̞as]) 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) - “distinguida” sits inside “distinguidas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distinguida is recorded at frequency rank #24,123, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgið̞a]. distinguidas is at rank #48,960, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgið̞as].

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 73083, this pair ranks #24,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of distinguida vs distinguidas

Shared letters: adginstu. Private to "distinguida": -. Private to "distinguidas": -.

"distinguida" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCV  ·  "distinguidas" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distinguida ← ddistinguida · disitnguida · disstinguida · distignuida · distingguida · distingiuda · distingudia · distinguiad
  • distinguidas ← ddistinguidas · disitnguidas · disstinguidas · distignuidas · distingguidas · distingiudas · distingudias · distinguiads

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "distinguida" for "distinguidas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgið̞a] versus [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgið̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "distinguida" vs "distinguidas" - which ranks higher?
"distinguida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,123 in our Spanish list, against #48,960 for "distinguidas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "distinguida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distinguidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distinguida" and "distinguidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distinguía vs distinguidas". 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 #24,042 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