adobevsaprobéTell them apart

Quick tell: adobe is a noun, aprobé is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“adobe” is a noun and “aprobé” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,263
“adobe” frequency rank
#39,575
“aprobé” frequency rank
54838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adobe aprobé
Definition Masa de barro sin cocción, a veces mezclada con paja o algún otro aditivo, secada al sol y al aire, empleado como material de construcción. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de aprobar.

Where the eye mixes adobe and aprobé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
adobe
6 ch
aprobé

Why the eye confuses adobe with aprobé

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: adobe is [aˈð̞oβ̞e] while aprobé is [apɾoˈβ̞e]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adobe is recorded at frequency rank #15,263, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈð̞oβ̞e]. aprobé is at rank #39,575, tagged as averb, pronounced [apɾoˈβ̞e].

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 54838, this pair ranks #81,559 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of adobe vs aprobé

Shared letters: abo. Private to "adobe": de. Private to "aprobé": pré.

"adobe" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "aprobé" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adobeadboe · addobe · adobbe · adoeb · adove · aodbe · daobe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "adobe" and "aprobé" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "adobe" is a noun and "aprobé" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "adobe" or "aprobé"?
"adobe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,263 in our Spanish list, against #39,575 for "aprobé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "adobe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aprobé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #81,559 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adobe" and "aprobé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apreté vs aprobé". 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 #81,559 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