abravsAdaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,943
“abra” frequency rank
#13,177
“Ada” frequency rank
21120
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abra Ada
Definition Entrada de mar en tierra, de menor proporción que una bahía, que ofrece resguardo para que los buques puedan fondear en ella. Nombre de pila de mujer.

Where the eye mixes abra and Ada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
abra
3 ch
Ada

Look-alike desk: abra vs Ada

A purely visual mix-up. abra ([ˈaβ̞ɾa]) and Ada ([ˈað̞a]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21120, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abra is recorded at frequency rank #7,943, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾa]. Ada is at rank #13,177, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈað̞a].

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 21120, this pair ranks #256,326 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abra vs Ada

Shared letters: a. Private to "abra": br. Private to "Ada": d.

"abra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "Ada" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abraabar · abbra · arba · avra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abra" for "Ada" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaβ̞ɾa] versus [ˈað̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abra" or "Ada"?
"abra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,943 in our Spanish list, against #13,177 for "Ada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #256,326 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abra" and "Ada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ada vs anta". 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 #256,326 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