Which to use
“trabada” is a participle and “trabajan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,460
- “trabada” frequency rank
- #2,750
- “trabajan” frequency rank
- 50210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trabada | trabajan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del femenino de trabado, participio de trabar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de trabajar. |
Where the eye mixes trabada and trabajan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. trabada runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against trabajan's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between trabada and trabajan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trabada is [t̪ɾaˈβ̞að̞a] while trabajan is [t̪ɾaˈβ̞axãn]. 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 50210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trabada is recorded at frequency rank #47,460, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [t̪ɾaˈβ̞að̞a]. trabajan is at rank #2,750, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪ɾaˈβ̞axãn].
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 50210, this pair ranks #104,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of trabada vs trabajan
Shared letters: abrt. Private to "trabada": d. Private to "trabajan": jn.
"trabada" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "trabajan" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trabada" and "trabajan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "trabada" or "trabajan" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "trabada" and "trabajan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "trabada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trabajan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trabada" and "trabajan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trabada vs trazadas". 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 #104,481 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.