Which to use
“encendida” is a participle and “encendido” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,323
- “encendida” frequency rank
- #9,287
- “encendido” frequency rank
- 25610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | encendida | encendido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de encendido, participio de encender. | Participio de encender. |
Where the eye mixes encendida and encendido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. encendida and encendido follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses encendida with encendido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: encendida is [ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪ið̞a] while encendido is [ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪ið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “encendida” becomes o in “encendido”, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
encendida is recorded at frequency rank #16,323, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪ið̞a]. encendido is at rank #9,287, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪ið̞o].
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 25610, this pair ranks #235,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of encendida vs encendido
Shared letters: cdein. Private to "encendida": a. Private to "encendido": o.
"encendida" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV · "encendido" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "encendida" for "encendido" ever safe?
Which is more common, "encendida" or "encendido"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "encendida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "encendido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "encendida" and "encendido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encendida vs entendidas". 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 #235,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.