Which to use
“guardaba” is a verb and “guardada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,122
- “guardaba” frequency rank
- #20,699
- “guardada” frequency rank
- 39821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guardaba | guardada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de guardar o de guardarse. | Forma del femenino de guardado, participio de guardar o de guardarse. |
Where the eye mixes guardaba and guardada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses guardaba with guardada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: guardaba is [gwaɾˈð̞aβ̞a] while guardada is [gwaɾˈð̞að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “guardaba” becomes d in “guardada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guardaba is recorded at frequency rank #19,122, classified as averb, pronounced [gwaɾˈð̞aβ̞a]. guardada is at rank #20,699, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [gwaɾˈð̞að̞a].
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 39821, this pair ranks #162,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of guardaba vs guardada
Shared letters: adgru. Private to "guardaba": b. Private to "guardada": -.
"guardaba" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV · "guardada" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "guardaba" and "guardada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "guardaba" or "guardada"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "guardaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guardada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "guardaba" and "guardada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guardada vs guardará". 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 #162,463 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.