señaladavsseñalanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: señalada is a participle, señalan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“señalada” is a participle and “señalan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,598
“señalada” frequency rank
#7,360
“señalan” frequency rank
30958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature señalada señalan
Definition Forma del femenino de señalado, participio de señalar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de señalar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set señalada and señalan apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
señalada
7 ch
señalan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: señalada is [seɲaˈlað̞a] while señalan is [seˈɲalãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

señalada is recorded at frequency rank #23,598, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [seɲaˈlað̞a]. señalan is at rank #7,360, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈɲalãn].

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 30958, this pair ranks #209,482 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of señalada vs señalan

Shared letters: aelsñ. Private to "señalada": d. Private to "señalan": n.

"señalada" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "señalan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

señalada#23,598
señalan#7,360

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "señalada" and "señalan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "señalada" is a participle and "señalan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "señalada" or "señalan"?
"señalan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,360 in our Spanish list, against #23,598 for "señalada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering señalada vs señalan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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