amparavsamplíaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,330
“ampara” frequency rank
#15,769
“amplía” frequency rank
46099
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ampara amplía
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de amparar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de ampliar.

Where the eye mixes ampara and amplía

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ampara (VCCVCV) and amplía (VCCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
ampara
6 ch
amplía

Look-alike desk: ampara vs amplía

A purely visual mix-up. ampara ([ãmˈpaɾa]) and amplía ([ãmˈplia]) 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 46099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ampara is recorded at frequency rank #30,330, classified as averb, pronounced [ãmˈpaɾa]. amplía is at rank #15,769, tagged as averb, pronounced [ãmˈplia].

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 46099, this pair ranks #127,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ampara vs amplía

Shared letters: amp. Private to "ampara": r. Private to "amplía": lí.

"ampara" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "amplía" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ampara ← amapra · ammpara · ampaar · amparra · amppara · ampraa · apmara · mapara

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ampara" and "amplía" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ãmˈpaɾa] versus [ãmˈplia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ampara" vs "amplía" - which ranks higher?
"amplía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,769 in our Spanish list, against #30,330 for "ampara". 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 "ampara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "amplía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #127,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ampara" and "amplía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amarra vs ampara". 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 #127,661 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