otorgabavsotorgadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,659
“otorgaba” frequency rank
#8,033
“otorgado” frequency rank
43692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature otorgaba otorgado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de otorgar. Participio de otorgar.

Where the eye mixes otorgaba and otorgado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. otorgaba and otorgado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
otorgaba
8 ch
otorgado

Why the eye confuses otorgaba with otorgado

A purely visual mix-up. otorgaba ([ot̪oɾˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and otorgado ([ot̪oɾˈɣ̞að̞o]) 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 43692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

otorgaba is recorded at frequency rank #35,659, classified as averb, pronounced [ot̪oɾˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. otorgado is at rank #8,033, tagged as averb, pronounced [ot̪oɾˈɣ̞að̞o].

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 43692, this pair ranks #141,237 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of otorgaba vs otorgado

Shared letters: agort. Private to "otorgaba": b. Private to "otorgado": d.

"otorgaba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "otorgado" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • otorgaba ← ootrgaba · otograba · otoragba · otorgaab · otorgabba · otorgava · otorgbaa · otorggaba
  • otorgado ← ootrgado · otogrado · otoragdo · otorgaddo · otorgaod · otorgdao · otorggado · otorrgado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "otorgaba" for "otorgado" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ot̪oɾˈɣ̞aβ̞a] versus [ot̪oɾˈɣ̞að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "otorgaba" vs "otorgado" - which ranks higher?
"otorgado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,033 in our Spanish list, against #35,659 for "otorgaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "otorgaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "otorgado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,237 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "otorgaba" and "otorgado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "otorgaba vs otorgadas". 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 #141,237 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