adoptavsadornaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,756
“adopta” frequency rank
#40,621
“adorna” frequency rank
50377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature adopta adorna
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de adoptar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de adornar.

Where the eye mixes adopta and adorna

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. adopta and adorna follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
adopta
6 ch
adorna

Why the eye confuses adopta with adorna

A purely visual mix-up. adopta ([aˈð̞opt̪a]) and adorna ([aˈð̞oɾna]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

adopta is recorded at frequency rank #9,756, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞opt̪a]. adorna is at rank #40,621, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈð̞oɾna].

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 50377, this pair ranks #103,535 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of adopta vs adorna

Shared letters: ado. Private to "adopta": pt. Private to "adorna": nr.

"adopta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "adorna" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adopta ← addopta · adopat · adoppta · adoptta · adotpa · adpota · aodpta · daopta
  • adorna ← addorna · adonra · adorrna · adrona · aodrna · daorna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "adopta" for "adorna" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈð̞opt̪a] versus [aˈð̞oɾna]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "adopta" or "adorna"?
"adopta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,756 in our Spanish list, against #40,621 for "adorna". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "adopta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "adorna" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,535 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "adopta" and "adorna" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acorta vs adorna". 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 #103,535 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