borradavsborrarWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#37,461
“borrada” frequency rank
#5,586
“borrar” frequency rank
43047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature borrada borrar
Definition Forma del femenino de borrado, participio de borrar. Hacer que desaparezca lo escrito, trazado o pintado con una goma, borrador u otro material.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set borrada and borrar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
borrada
6 ch
borrar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: borrada is [boˈrað̞a] while borrar is [boˈraɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43047, 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]. borrar is at rank #5,586, tagged as averb, pronounced [boˈraɾ].

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 43047, this pair ranks #144,844 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of borrada vs borrar

Shared letters: abor. Private to "borrada": d. Private to "borrar": -.

"borrada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "borrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • borradabborrada · borada · borarda · borraad · borradda · borrdaa · brorada · obrrada
  • borrarbborrar · borar · borarr · borrarr · borrra · brorar · obrrar · vorrar

Frequency comparison

borrada#37,461
borrar#5,586

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "borrada" and "borrar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "borrada" is a participle and "borrar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "borrada" or "borrar"?
"borrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,586 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 borrar

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 “borrar”.
  • 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