Which to use
“instala” and “instaló” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,721
- “instala” frequency rank
- #13,073
- “instaló” frequency rank
- 26794
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | instala | instaló |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de instalar. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de instalar. |
Where the eye mixes instala and instaló
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. instala and instaló follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses instala with instaló
A purely visual mix-up. instala ([ĩnsˈt̪ala]) and instaló ([ĩnst̪aˈlo]) 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 a single letter - a in “instala” becomes ó in “instaló”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
instala is recorded at frequency rank #13,721, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩnsˈt̪ala]. instaló is at rank #13,073, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩnst̪aˈlo].
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 26794, this pair ranks #229,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of instala vs instaló
Shared letters: ailnst. Private to "instala": -. Private to "instaló": ó.
"instala" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "instaló" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- instala ← innstala · insatla · insstala · instaal · installa · instlaa · insttala · intsala
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "instala" and "instaló" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "instala" or "instaló" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "instala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "instaló" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "instala" and "instaló" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "instala vs instalé". 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 #229,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.