olvidadavsolvídateWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#16,918
“olvidada” frequency rank
#16,166
“olvídate” frequency rank
33084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature olvidada olvídate
Definition Forma del femenino de olvidado, participio de olvidar o de olvidarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de olvidarse (con el pronombre enclítico).

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
olvidada
8 ch
olvídate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: olvidada is [olβ̞iˈð̞að̞a] while olvídate is [olˈβ̞ið̞at̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

olvidada is recorded at frequency rank #16,918, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [olβ̞iˈð̞að̞a]. olvídate is at rank #16,166, tagged as averb, pronounced [olˈβ̞ið̞at̪e].

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 33084, this pair ranks #198,658 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of olvidada vs olvídate

Shared letters: adlov. Private to "olvidada": i. Private to "olvídate": etí.

"olvidada" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "olvídate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • olvidadalovidada · olbidada · olivdada · ollvidada · olvdiada · olviadda · olvidaad · olvidadda

Frequency comparison

olvidada#16,918
olvídate#16,166

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "olvidada" and "olvídate" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "olvidada" is a participle and "olvídate" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "olvidada" or "olvídate"?
"olvídate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,166 in our Spanish list, against #16,918 for "olvidada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering olvidada vs olvídate

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “olvidada”; for a verb, it's “olvídate”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “olvidada” 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