provocabavsprovocadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,070
“provocaba” frequency rank
#7,215
“provocado” frequency rank
38285
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature provocaba provocado
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de provocar. Participio de provocar.

Where the eye mixes provocaba and provocado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. provocaba and provocado follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
provocaba
9 ch
provocado

Look-alike desk: provocaba vs provocado

A purely visual mix-up. provocaba ([pɾoβ̞oˈkaβ̞a]) and provocado ([pɾoβ̞oˈkað̞o]) 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 38285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

provocaba is recorded at frequency rank #31,070, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoβ̞oˈkaβ̞a]. provocado is at rank #7,215, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoβ̞oˈkað̞o].

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 38285, this pair ranks #170,827 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of provocaba vs provocado

Shared letters: acoprv. Private to "provocaba": b. Private to "provocado": d.

"provocaba" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "provocado" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • provocaba ← porvocaba · pprovocaba · probocaba · proovcaba · provcoaba · provoacba · provocaab · provocabba
  • provocado ← porvocado · pprovocado · probocado · proovcado · provcoado · provoacdo · provocaddo · provocaod

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "provocaba" and "provocado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoβ̞oˈkaβ̞a] versus [pɾoβ̞oˈkað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "provocaba" vs "provocado" - which ranks higher?
"provocado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,215 in our Spanish list, against #31,070 for "provocaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "provocaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "provocado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #170,827 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "provocaba" and "provocado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "provocaba vs provocaría". 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 #170,827 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