agarravsagarrabaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#6,257
“agarra” frequency rank
#35,852
“agarraba” frequency rank
42109
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature agarra agarraba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de agarrar o de agarrarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de agarrar o de agarrarse.

Where the eye mixes agarra and agarraba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. agarra runs 6 letters (VCVCCV) against agarraba's 8 (VCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
agarra
8 ch
agarraba

Visual trap between agarra and agarraba

A purely visual mix-up. agarra ([aˈɣ̞ara]) and agarraba ([aɣ̞aˈraβ̞a]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “agarra” sits inside “agarraba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agarra is recorded at frequency rank #6,257, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞ara]. agarraba is at rank #35,852, tagged as averb, pronounced [aɣ̞aˈraβ̞a].

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 42109, this pair ranks #150,047 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of agarra vs agarraba

Shared letters: agr. Private to "agarra": -. Private to "agarraba": b.

"agarra" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "agarraba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agarra ← aagrra · agara · agarar · aggarra · agrara · gaarra
  • agarraba ← aagrraba · agaraba · agararba · agarraab · agarrabba · agarrava · agarrbaa · aggarraba

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "agarra" and "agarraba" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈɣ̞ara] versus [aɣ̞aˈraβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "agarra" or "agarraba"?
"agarra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,257 in our Spanish list, against #35,852 for "agarraba". 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 "agarra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "agarraba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #150,047 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "agarra" and "agarraba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agarraba vs amarrada". 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 #150,047 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