ordenavsordenadoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,331
“ordena” frequency rank
#6,094
“ordenado” frequency rank
13425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ordena ordenado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ordenar o de ordenarse. Que guarda orden y método.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ordena and ordenado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ordena
8 ch
ordenado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ordena is [oɾˈð̞ena] while ordenado is [oɾð̞eˈnað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “ordena” sits inside “ordenado”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ordena is recorded at frequency rank #7,331, classified as averb, pronounced [oɾˈð̞ena]. ordenado is at rank #6,094, tagged as anadj, pronounced [oɾð̞eˈnað̞o].

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 13425, this pair ranks #287,916 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ordena vs ordenado

Shared letters: adenor. Private to "ordena": -. Private to "ordenado": -.

"ordena" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "ordenado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ordenaodrena · orddena · ordean · ordenna · ordnea · oredna · orrdena · rodena
  • ordenadoodrenado · orddenado · ordeando · ordenaddo · ordenaod · ordendao · ordennado · ordneado

Frequency comparison

ordena#7,331
ordenado#6,094

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ordena" and "ordenado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ordena" is a verb and "ordenado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ordena" or "ordenado"?
"ordenado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,094 in our Spanish list, against #7,331 for "ordena". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ordena vs ordenado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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