trabajadavstrabajanWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#35,792
“trabajada” frequency rank
#2,750
“trabajan” frequency rank
38542
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trabajada trabajan
Definition Forma del femenino de trabajado, participio de trabajar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de trabajar.

Where the eye mixes trabajada and trabajan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. trabajada runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against trabajan's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
trabajada
8 ch
trabajan

Visual trap between trabajada and trabajan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trabajada is [t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxað̞a] 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 38542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trabajada is recorded at frequency rank #35,792, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [t̪ɾaβ̞aˈxað̞a]. 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 38542, this pair ranks #169,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of trabajada vs trabajan

Shared letters: abjrt. Private to "trabajada": d. Private to "trabajan": n.

"trabajada" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "trabajan" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trabajada ← rtabajada · tarbajada · traabjada · trabaajda · trabajaad · trabajadda · trabajdaa · trabajjada
  • trabajan ← rtabajan · tarbajan · traabjan · trabaajn · trabajann · trabajjan · trabajna · trabbajan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "trabajada" for "trabajan" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "trabajada" is a participle and "trabajan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "trabajada" or "trabajan"?
"trabajan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,750 in our Spanish list, against #35,792 for "trabajada". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "trabajada" 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 #169,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trabajada" and "trabajan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trabada vs trabajada". 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 #169,442 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