aferravsagarraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,055
“aferra” frequency rank
#6,257
“agarra” frequency rank
38312
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aferra agarra
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aferrar o de aferrarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de agarrar o de agarrarse.

Where the eye mixes aferra and agarra

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

6 ch
aferra
6 ch
agarra

Look-alike desk: aferra vs agarra

A purely visual mix-up. aferra ([aˈfera]) and agarra ([aˈɣ̞ara]) 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 38312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aferra is recorded at frequency rank #32,055, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈfera]. agarra is at rank #6,257, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞ara].

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 38312, this pair ranks #170,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aferra vs agarra

Shared letters: ar. Private to "aferra": ef. Private to "agarra": g.

"aferra" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "agarra" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aferra ← aefrra · afera · aferar · afferra · afrera · faerra
  • agarra ← aagrra · agara · agarar · aggarra · agrara · gaarra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aferra" for "agarra" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈfera] versus [aˈɣ̞ara]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aferra" or "agarra"?
"agarra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,257 in our Spanish list, against #32,055 for "aferra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "aferra" and "agarra" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aferra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "agarra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #170,711 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aferra" and "agarra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aferra vs amarra". 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 #170,711 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