imitadovsimitanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,721
“imitado” frequency rank
#33,166
“imitan” frequency rank
82887
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imitado imitan
Definition Participio de imitar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de imitar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set imitado and imitan apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
imitado
6 ch
imitan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. imitado ([imiˈt̪að̞o]) and imitan ([iˈmit̪ãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imitado is recorded at frequency rank #49,721, classified as averb, pronounced [imiˈt̪að̞o]. imitan is at rank #33,166, tagged as averb, pronounced [iˈmit̪ãn].

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 82887, this pair ranks #8,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of imitado vs imitan

Shared letters: aimt. Private to "imitado": do. Private to "imitan": n.

"imitado" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "imitan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imitadoiimtado · imiatdo · imitaddo · imitaod · imitdao · imittado · immitado · imtiado
  • imitaniimtan · imiatn · imitann · imitna · imittan · immitan · imtian · miitan

Frequency comparison

imitado#49,721
imitan#33,166

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "imitado" and "imitan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([imiˈt̪að̞o] versus [iˈmit̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "imitado" or "imitan"?
"imitan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,166 in our Spanish list, against #49,721 for "imitado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering imitado vs imitan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “imitado” 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