Which to use
“tarda” is an adjective and “tarden” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,631
- “tarda” frequency rank
- #47,440
- “tarden” frequency rank
- 55071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tarda | tarden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino singular de tardo. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de tardar. |
Where the eye mixes tarda and tarden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tarda runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tarden's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between tarda and tarden
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tarda is [ˈt̪aɾð̞a] while tarden is [ˈt̪aɾð̞ẽn]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tarda is recorded at frequency rank #7,631, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪aɾð̞a]. tarden is at rank #47,440, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪aɾð̞ẽn].
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 55071, this pair ranks #80,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tarda vs tarden
Shared letters: adrt. Private to "tarda": -. Private to "tarden": en.
"tarda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tarden" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tarda" and "tarden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tarda" or "tarden" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tarda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tarden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #80,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tarda" and "tarden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tándem vs tarden". 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 #80,522 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.