abandonavsabandonarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“abandona” and “abandonar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,808
“abandona” frequency rank
#3,096
“abandonar” frequency rank
10904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abandona abandonar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de abandonar o de abandonarse. Dejar, desamparar a una persona, animal o cosa. No hacer caso de ella.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abandona and abandonar apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
abandona
9 ch
abandonar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abandona ([aβ̞ãn̪ˈd̪ona]) and abandonar ([aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnaɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “abandona” sits inside “abandonar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abandona is recorded at frequency rank #7,808, classified as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ãn̪ˈd̪ona]. abandonar is at rank #3,096, tagged as averb, pronounced [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnaɾ].

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 10904, this pair ranks #296,962 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abandona vs abandonar

Shared letters: abdno. Private to "abandona": -. Private to "abandonar": r.

"abandona" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "abandonar" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abandonaaabndona · abadnona · abanddona · abandnoa · abandoan · abandonna · abanndona · abanodna
  • abandonaraabndonar · abadnonar · abanddonar · abandnoar · abandoanr · abandonarr · abandonnar · abandonra

Frequency comparison

abandona#7,808
abandonar#3,096

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abandona" and "abandonar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aβ̞ãn̪ˈd̪ona] versus [aβ̞ãn̪d̪oˈnaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abandona" or "abandonar"?
"abandonar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,096 in our Spanish list, against #7,808 for "abandona". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering abandona vs abandonar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abandona” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list