tímidavstraídaTell them apart

Quick tell: tímida is a adjective, traída is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tímida” is an adjective and “traída” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,724
“tímida” frequency rank
#28,188
“traída” frequency rank
44912
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tímida traída
Definition Forma del femenino de tímido. Forma del femenino de traído, participio de traer o de traerse.

Where the eye mixes tímida and traída

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tímida (CVCVCV) and traída (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
tímida
6 ch
traída

Why the eye confuses tímida with traída

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tímida is [ˈt̪imið̞a] while traída is [t̪ɾaˈið̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tímida is recorded at frequency rank #16,724, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪imið̞a]. traída is at rank #28,188, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [t̪ɾaˈið̞a].

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 44912, this pair ranks #134,413 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tímida vs traída

Shared letters: adtí. Private to "tímida": im. Private to "traída": r.

"tímida" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "traída" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tímida" and "traída" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tímida" is an adjective and "traída" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tímida" or "traída" show up more?
"tímida" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,724 in our Spanish list, against #28,188 for "traída". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tímida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "traída" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,413 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tímida" and "traída" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tejida vs traída". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #134,413 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