Which to use
“protegida” is an adjective and “protegidas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,574
- “protegida” frequency rank
- #12,228
- “protegidas” frequency rank
- 20802
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | protegida | protegidas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino singular de protegido. | Forma del femenino plural de protegido, participio de proteger. |
Where the eye mixes protegida and protegidas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. protegida runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against protegidas's 10 (CCVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses protegida with protegidas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: protegida is [pɾot̪eˈxið̞a] while protegidas is [pɾot̪eˈxið̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “protegida” sits inside “protegidas”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
protegida is recorded at frequency rank #8,574, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɾot̪eˈxið̞a]. protegidas is at rank #12,228, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [pɾot̪eˈxið̞as].
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 20802, this pair ranks #257,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of protegida vs protegidas
Shared letters: adegioprt. Private to "protegida": -. Private to "protegidas": s.
"protegida" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV · "protegidas" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- protegida ← portegida · pprotegida · proetgida · protegdia · proteggida · protegiad · protegidda · proteigda
- protegidas ← portegidas · pprotegidas · proetgidas · protegdias · proteggidas · protegiads · protegidass · protegiddas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "protegida" for "protegidas" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "protegida" or "protegidas" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "protegida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "protegidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "protegida" and "protegidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "protegían vs protegidas". 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 #257,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.