borradavsborrosaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: borrada is a participle, borrosa is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#37,461
“borrada” frequency rank
#29,951
“borrosa” frequency rank
67412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
borrada
7 ch
borrosa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: borrada is [boˈrað̞a] while borrosa is [boˈrosa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67412, 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]. borrosa is at rank #29,951, tagged as anadj, pronounced [boˈrosa].

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 67412, this pair ranks #37,183 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of borrada vs borrosa

Shared letters: abor. Private to "borrada": d. Private to "borrosa": s.

"borrada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "borrosa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • borradabborrada · borada · borarda · borraad · borradda · borrdaa · brorada · obrrada
  • borrosabborrosa · bororsa · borosa · borroas · borrossa · borrsoa · brorosa · obrrosa

Frequency comparison

borrada#37,461
borrosa#29,951

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "borrada" and "borrosa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "borrada" is a participle and "borrosa" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "borrada" or "borrosa"?
"borrosa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,951 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 borrosa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a participle, it's “borrada”; for an adjective, it's “borrosa”.
  • 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