invitabavsinvitadoTell them apart

Quick tell: invitaba is a verb, invitado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“invitaba” is a verb and “invitado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,418
“invitaba” frequency rank
#3,566
“invitado” frequency rank
31984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature invitaba invitado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de invitar. Que recibe invitación.

Where the eye mixes invitaba and invitado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
invitaba
8 ch
invitado

Visual trap between invitaba and invitado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: invitaba is [ĩmbiˈt̪aβ̞a] while invitado is [ĩmbiˈt̪að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

invitaba is recorded at frequency rank #28,418, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmbiˈt̪aβ̞a]. invitado is at rank #3,566, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ĩmbiˈt̪að̞o].

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 31984, this pair ranks #204,313 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of invitaba vs invitado

Shared letters: aintv. Private to "invitaba": b. Private to "invitado": do.

"invitaba" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "invitado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • invitabainbitaba · inivtaba · innvitaba · inviatba · invitaab · invitabba · invitava · invitbaa
  • invitadoinbitado · inivtado · innvitado · inviatdo · invitaddo · invitaod · invitdao · invittado

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "invitaba" and "invitado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "invitaba" is a verb and "invitado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "invitaba" or "invitado"?
"invitado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,566 in our Spanish list, against #28,418 for "invitaba". 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 "invitaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "invitado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #204,313 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "invitaba" and "invitado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitado vs invitado". 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 #204,313 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