borradavsborradoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: borrada is a participle, borrado is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“borrada” is a participle and “borrado” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,461
“borrada” frequency rank
#10,796
“borrado” frequency rank
48257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature borrada borrado
Definition Forma del femenino de borrado, participio de borrar. Participio de borrar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set borrada and borrado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
borrada
7 ch
borrado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: borrada is [boˈrað̞a] while borrado is [boˈrað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “borrada” becomes o in “borrado”, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

borrada is recorded at frequency rank #37,461, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [boˈrað̞a]. borrado is at rank #10,796, tagged as averb, pronounced [boˈrað̞o].

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 48257, this pair ranks #115,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of borrada vs borrado

Shared letters: abdor. Private to "borrada": -. Private to "borrado": -.

"borrada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "borrado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • borradabborrada · borada · borarda · borraad · borradda · borrdaa · brorada · obrrada
  • borradobborrado · borado · borardo · borraddo · borraod · borrdao · brorado · obrrado

Frequency comparison

borrada#37,461
borrado#10,796

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "borrada" and "borrado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "borrada" is a participle and "borrado" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "borrada" or "borrado"?
"borrado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,796 in our Spanish list, against #37,461 for "borrada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering borrada vs borrado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “borrada”; for a verb, it's “borrado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “borrada” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list