investigadovsinvestigadosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: investigado is a verb, investigados is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“investigado” is a verb and “investigados” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,256
“investigado” frequency rank
#22,068
“investigados” frequency rank
33324
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature investigado investigados
Definition Participio de investigar. Forma del plural de investigado, participio de investigar.

Where the eye mixes investigado and investigados

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

11 ch
investigado
12 ch
investigados

Why the eye confuses investigado with investigados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: investigado is [ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞að̞o] while investigados is [ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “investigado” sits inside “investigados”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

investigado is recorded at frequency rank #11,256, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞að̞o]. investigados is at rank #22,068, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞að̞os].

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 33324, this pair ranks #197,368 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of investigado vs investigados

Shared letters: adeginostv. Private to "investigado": -. Private to "investigados": -.

"investigado" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV  ·  "investigados" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • investigado ← inbestigado · inevstigado · innvestigado · invesitgado · invesstigado · investgiado · investiagdo · investigaddo
  • investigados ← inbestigados · inevstigados · innvestigados · invesitgados · invesstigados · investgiados · investiagdos · investigaddos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "investigado" and "investigados" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "investigado" is a verb and "investigados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "investigado" vs "investigados" - which ranks higher?
"investigado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,256 in our Spanish list, against #22,068 for "investigados". 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 "investigado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "investigados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #197,368 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "investigado" and "investigados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "investigadoras vs investigados". 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 #197,368 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