mandabavsmandadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,150
“mandaba” frequency rank
#7,590
“mandado” frequency rank
22740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mandaba mandado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mandar o de mandarse. Participio de mandar o de mandarse.

Where the eye mixes mandaba and mandado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
mandaba
7 ch
mandado

Why the eye confuses mandaba with mandado

A purely visual mix-up. mandaba ([mãn̪ˈd̪aβ̞a]) and mandado ([mãn̪ˈd̪að̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mandaba is recorded at frequency rank #15,150, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈd̪aβ̞a]. mandado is at rank #7,590, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈd̪að̞o].

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 22740, this pair ranks #248,934 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mandaba vs mandado

Shared letters: admn. Private to "mandaba": b. Private to "mandado": o.

"mandaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "mandado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mandabaamndaba · madnaba · manadba · mandaab · mandabba · mandava · mandbaa · manddaba
  • mandadoamndado · madnado · manaddo · mandaddo · mandaod · manddado · manddao · manndado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mandaba" for "mandado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪ˈd̪aβ̞a] versus [mãn̪ˈd̪að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mandaba" vs "mandado" - which ranks higher?
"mandado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,590 in our Spanish list, against #15,150 for "mandaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "mandaba" and "mandado" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mandaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mandado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #248,934 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mandaba" and "mandado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mandaba vs mundana". 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 #248,934 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