pedidavspésimaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#40,998
“pedida” frequency rank
#14,686
“pésima” frequency rank
55684
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedida pésima
Definition Forma del femenino de pedido, participio de pedir. Forma del femenino singular de pésimo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pedida and pésima apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pedida
6 ch
pésima

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pedida is [peˈð̞ið̞a] while pésima is [ˈpesima]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedida is recorded at frequency rank #40,998, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [peˈð̞ið̞a]. pésima is at rank #14,686, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpesima].

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 55684, this pair ranks #77,829 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pedida vs pésima

Shared letters: aip. Private to "pedida": de. Private to "pésima": msé.

"pedida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pésima" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pedidaepdida · pdeida · peddia · peddida · pediad · pedidda · peidda · ppedida

Frequency comparison

pedida#40,998
pésima#14,686

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pedida" and "pésima" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pedida" is a participle and "pésima" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pedida" or "pésima"?
"pésima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,686 in our Spanish list, against #40,998 for "pedida". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pedida vs pésima

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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