borradorvsborrarWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,919
“borrador” frequency rank
#5,586
“borrar” frequency rank
14505
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature borrador borrar
Definition Que borra (hace desaparecer o desvanecer), o que sirve para ello. 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 borrador and borrar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
borrador
6 ch
borrar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: borrador is [boraˈð̞oɾ] while borrar is [boˈraɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14505, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

borrador is recorded at frequency rank #8,919, classified as anadj, pronounced [boraˈð̞oɾ]. 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 14505, this pair ranks #283,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of borrador vs borrar

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

"borrador" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "borrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • borradorbborrador · borador · borardor · borraddor · borradorr · borradro · borraodr · borrdaor
  • borrarbborrar · borar · borarr · borrarr · borrra · brorar · obrrar · vorrar

Frequency comparison

borrador#8,919
borrar#5,586

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "borrador" and "borrar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "borrador" is an adjective and "borrar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "borrador" or "borrar"?
"borrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,586 in our Spanish list, against #8,919 for "borrador". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering borrador vs borrar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “borrador”; for a verb, it's “borrar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “borrador” 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