arriesgavsarriesgarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,561
“arriesga” frequency rank
#12,306
“arriesgar” frequency rank
33867
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature arriesga arriesgar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de arriesgar o de arriesgarse. Poner en peligro o exponer a un riesgo.

Where the eye mixes arriesga and arriesgar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
arriesga
9 ch
arriesgar

Visual trap between arriesga and arriesgar

A purely visual mix-up. arriesga ([aˈrjesɣ̞a]) and arriesgar ([arjesˈɣ̞aɾ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “arriesga” sits inside “arriesgar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

arriesga is recorded at frequency rank #21,561, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈrjesɣ̞a]. arriesgar is at rank #12,306, tagged as averb, pronounced [arjesˈɣ̞aɾ].

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 33867, this pair ranks #194,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of arriesga vs arriesgar

Shared letters: aegirs. Private to "arriesga": -. Private to "arriesgar": -.

"arriesga" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV  ·  "arriesgar" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • arriesgaariesga · ariresga · arreisga · arriegsa · arriesag · arriesgga · arriessga · arrisega
  • arriesgarariesgar · ariresgar · arreisgar · arriegsar · arriesagr · arriesgarr · arriesggar · arriesgra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "arriesga" and "arriesgar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈrjesɣ̞a] versus [arjesˈɣ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "arriesga" vs "arriesgar" - which ranks higher?
"arriesgar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,306 in our Spanish list, against #21,561 for "arriesga". 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 "arriesga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "arriesgar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "arriesga" and "arriesgar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arresta vs arriesga". 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 #194,479 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