alargarvsamarrarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,563
“alargar” frequency rank
#38,491
“amarrar” frequency rank
61054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alargar amarrar
Definition Dar más longitud a una cosa. Utilizar ligaduras o nudos para que algo quede sujeto o inmóvil.

Where the eye mixes alargar and amarrar

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

7 ch
alargar
7 ch
amarrar

Look-alike desk: alargar vs amarrar

A purely visual mix-up. alargar ([alaɾˈɣ̞aɾ]) and amarrar ([amaˈraɾ]) 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 61054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alargar is recorded at frequency rank #22,563, classified as averb, pronounced [alaɾˈɣ̞aɾ]. amarrar is at rank #38,491, tagged as averb, pronounced [amaˈraɾ].

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 61054, this pair ranks #56,789 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alargar vs amarrar

Shared letters: ar. Private to "alargar": gl. Private to "amarrar": m.

"alargar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "amarrar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alargar ← aalrgar · alagrar · alaragr · alargarr · alarggar · alargra · alarrgar · allargar
  • amarrar ← aamrrar · amarar · amararr · amarrarr · amarrra · ammarrar · amrarar · maarrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alargar" for "amarrar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([alaɾˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [amaˈraɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alargar" vs "amarrar" - which ranks higher?
"alargar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,563 in our Spanish list, against #38,491 for "amarrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alargar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "amarrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,789 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alargar" and "amarrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amarrar vs amarras". 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 #56,789 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