vigiladavsvigilandoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,450
“vigilada” frequency rank
#18,716
“vigilando” frequency rank
51166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vigilada vigilando
Definition Forma del femenino de vigilado, participio de vigilar. Gerundio de vigilar.

Where the eye mixes vigilada and vigilando

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

8 ch
vigilada
9 ch
vigilando

Why the eye confuses vigilada with vigilando

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vigilada is [bixiˈlað̞a] while vigilando is [bixiˈlãn̪d̪o]. 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 51166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigilada is recorded at frequency rank #32,450, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [bixiˈlað̞a]. vigilando is at rank #18,716, tagged as averb, pronounced [bixiˈlãn̪d̪o].

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 51166, this pair ranks #99,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vigilada vs vigilando

Shared letters: adgilv. Private to "vigilada": -. Private to "vigilando": no.

"vigilada" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "vigilando" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vigilada ← bigilada · ivgilada · vgiilada · viggilada · vigialda · vigilaad · vigiladda · vigildaa
  • vigilando ← bigilando · ivgilando · vgiilando · viggilando · vigialndo · vigiladno · vigilanddo · vigilanndo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vigilada" and "vigilando" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vigilada" is a participle and "vigilando" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vigilada" or "vigilando"?
"vigilando" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,716 in our Spanish list, against #32,450 for "vigilada". 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 "vigilada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vigilando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #99,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vigilada" and "vigilando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigilaba vs vigilada". 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 #99,325 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