Which to use
“utilizaban” is a verb and “utilizadas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,414
- “utilizaban” frequency rank
- #7,083
- “utilizadas” frequency rank
- 25497
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | utilizaban | utilizadas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de utilizar. | Forma del femenino plural de utilizado, participio de utilizar. |
Where the eye mixes utilizaban and utilizadas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. utilizaban and utilizadas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses utilizaban with utilizadas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: utilizaban is [ut̪iliˈsaβ̞ãn] while utilizadas is [ut̪iliˈsað̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25497, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
utilizaban is recorded at frequency rank #18,414, classified as averb, pronounced [ut̪iliˈsaβ̞ãn]. utilizadas is at rank #7,083, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [ut̪iliˈsað̞as].
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 25497, this pair ranks #236,168 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of utilizaban vs utilizadas
Shared letters: ailtuz. Private to "utilizaban": bn. Private to "utilizadas": ds.
"utilizaban" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCVC · "utilizadas" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- utilizaban ← tuilizaban · uitlizaban · utiilzaban · utiliazban · utilizaabn · utilizabann · utilizabban · utilizabna
- utilizadas ← tuilizadas · uitlizadas · utiilzadas · utiliazdas · utilizaads · utilizadass · utilizaddas · utilizadsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "utilizaban" for "utilizadas" ever safe?
Frequency check: "utilizaban" vs "utilizadas" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "utilizaban" and "utilizadas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "utilizaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "utilizadas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,168 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "utilizaban" and "utilizadas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "utilizaban vs utilizarán". 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 #236,168 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.