preocupadavspreocupadasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,019
“preocupada” frequency rank
#28,121
“preocupadas” frequency rank
37140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preocupada preocupadas
Definition Forma del femenino de preocupado, participio de preocupar o de preocuparse. Forma del femenino plural de preocupado, participio de preocupar o de preocuparse.

Where the eye mixes preocupada and preocupadas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. preocupada runs 10 letters (CCVVCVCVCV) against preocupadas's 11 (CCVVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
preocupada
11 ch
preocupadas

Visual trap between preocupada and preocupadas

A purely visual mix-up. preocupada ([pɾeokuˈpað̞a]) and preocupadas ([pɾeokuˈpað̞as]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “preocupada” sits inside “preocupadas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preocupada is recorded at frequency rank #9,019, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [pɾeokuˈpað̞a]. preocupadas is at rank #28,121, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [pɾeokuˈpað̞as].

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 37140, this pair ranks #176,877 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of preocupada vs preocupadas

Shared letters: acdeopru. Private to "preocupada": -. Private to "preocupadas": s.

"preocupada" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCVCVCV  ·  "preocupadas" · 11 letters · shape CCVVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • preocupada ← perocupada · ppreocupada · precoupada · preoccupada · preocpuada · preocuapda · preocupaad · preocupadda
  • preocupadas ← perocupadas · ppreocupadas · precoupadas · preoccupadas · preocpuadas · preocuapdas · preocupaads · preocupadass

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "preocupada" for "preocupadas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeokuˈpað̞a] versus [pɾeokuˈpað̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "preocupada" vs "preocupadas" - which ranks higher?
"preocupada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,019 in our Spanish list, against #28,121 for "preocupadas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "preocupada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "preocupadas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #176,877 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preocupada" and "preocupadas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preocupaban vs preocupadas". 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 #176,877 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