sustentavssustentadoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,843
“sustenta” frequency rank
#38,411
“sustentado” frequency rank
59254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sustenta sustentado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de sustentar. Participio de sustentar.

Where the eye mixes sustenta and sustentado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
sustenta
10 ch
sustentado

Visual trap between sustenta and sustentado

A purely visual mix-up. sustenta ([susˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a]) and sustentado ([sust̪ẽn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “sustenta” sits inside “sustentado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sustenta is recorded at frequency rank #20,843, classified as averb, pronounced [susˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a]. sustentado is at rank #38,411, tagged as averb, pronounced [sust̪ẽn̪ˈt̪að̞o].

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 59254, this pair ranks #63,315 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sustenta vs sustentado

Shared letters: aenstu. Private to "sustenta": -. Private to "sustentado": do.

"sustenta" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "sustentado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sustentassustenta · ssutenta · susetnta · susstenta · sustenat · sustennta · sustentta · sustetna
  • sustentadossustentado · ssutentado · susetntado · susstentado · sustenatdo · sustenntado · sustentaddo · sustentaod

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sustenta" and "sustentado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([susˈt̪ẽn̪t̪a] versus [sust̪ẽn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sustenta" or "sustentado"?
"sustenta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,843 in our Spanish list, against #38,411 for "sustentado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sustenta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sustentado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,315 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sustenta" and "sustentado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sustentada vs sustentado". 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 #63,315 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