pagadasvspicadasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pagadas is a participle, picadas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pagadas” is a participle and “picadas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,336
“pagadas” frequency rank
#35,684
“picadas” frequency rank
54020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pagadas picadas
Definition Forma del femenino plural de pagado, participio de pagar o de pagarse. Forma del femenino plural de picado.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
pagadas
7 ch
picadas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

pagadas and picadas form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pagadas is recorded at frequency rank #18,336, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [paˈɣ̞að̞as]. picadas is at rank #35,684, tagged as anadj, pronounced [piˈkað̞as].

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 54020, this pair ranks #85,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

pagadas#18,336
picadas#35,684

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pagadas" and "picadas" be used interchangeably?
No, "pagadas" and "picadas" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering pagadas vs picadas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “pagadas”; for an adjective, it's “picadas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pagadas” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list