aduanavsaguadaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,654
“aduana” frequency rank
#30,741
“aguada” frequency rank
38395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aduana aguada
Definition Organismo del Estado encargado de percibir las tasas y derechos que gravan los bienes que se comercian atravesando las fronteras Sitio de una fuente de agua potable.

Where the eye mixes aduana and aguada

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

6 ch
aduana
6 ch
aguada

Why the eye confuses aduana with aguada

A purely visual mix-up. aduana ([aˈð̞wana]) and aguada ([aˈɣ̞wað̞a]) 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 38395, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aduana is recorded at frequency rank #7,654, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈð̞wana]. aguada is at rank #30,741, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈɣ̞wað̞a].

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 38395, this pair ranks #170,256 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aduana vs aguada

Shared letters: adu. Private to "aduana": n. Private to "aguada": g.

"aduana" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV  ·  "aguada" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aduanaadauna · adduana · aduaan · aduanna · adunaa · audana · dauana
  • aguadaagauda · agguada · aguaad · aguadda · agudaa · augada · gauada

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aduana" and "aguada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈð̞wana] versus [aˈɣ̞wað̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aduana" or "aguada"?
"aduana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,654 in our Spanish list, against #30,741 for "aguada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aduana" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aguada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #170,256 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aduana" and "aguada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aguada vs apurada". 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 #170,256 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