aguantavsaguardaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,342
“aguanta” frequency rank
#23,292
“aguarda” frequency rank
31634
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aguanta aguarda
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aguantar o de aguantarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aguardar o de aguardarse.

Where the eye mixes aguanta and aguarda

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. aguanta and aguarda follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
aguanta
7 ch
aguarda

Why the eye confuses aguanta with aguarda

A purely visual mix-up. aguanta ([aˈɣ̞wãn̪t̪a]) and aguarda ([aˈɣ̞waɾð̞a]) 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 31634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aguanta is recorded at frequency rank #8,342, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞wãn̪t̪a]. aguarda is at rank #23,292, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞waɾð̞a].

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 31634, this pair ranks #206,076 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aguanta vs aguarda

Shared letters: agu. Private to "aguanta": nt. Private to "aguarda": dr.

"aguanta" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV  ·  "aguarda" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aguantaagaunta · agguanta · aguanat · aguannta · aguantta · aguatna · agunata · auganta
  • aguardaagaurda · agguarda · aguadra · aguarad · aguardda · aguarrda · agurada · augarda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aguanta" for "aguarda" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈɣ̞wãn̪t̪a] versus [aˈɣ̞waɾð̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aguanta" or "aguarda"?
"aguanta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,342 in our Spanish list, against #23,292 for "aguarda". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aguanta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aguarda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,076 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aguanta" and "aguarda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aguarda vs aguardan". 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 #206,076 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