separadavsseparanTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#10,758
“separada” frequency rank
#12,715
“separan” frequency rank
23473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature separada separan
Definition Forma del femenino de separado, participio de separar o de separarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de separar o de separarse.

Where the eye mixes separada and separan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
separada
7 ch
separan

Look-alike desk: separada vs separan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: separada is [sepaˈɾað̞a] while separan is [seˈpaɾãn]. 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 23473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

separada is recorded at frequency rank #10,758, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [sepaˈɾað̞a]. separan is at rank #12,715, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈpaɾãn].

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 23473, this pair ranks #245,638 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of separada vs separan

Shared letters: aeprs. Private to "separada": d. Private to "separan": n.

"separada" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "separan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • separadaceparada · esparada · seaprada · sepaarda · separaad · separadda · separdaa · separrada
  • separanceparan · esparan · seapran · sepaarn · separann · separna · separran · sepparan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "separada" for "separan" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "separada" is a participle and "separan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "separada" or "separan"?
"separada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,758 in our Spanish list, against #12,715 for "separan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "separada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "separan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #245,638 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "separada" and "separan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "separada vs separador". 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 #245,638 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