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 eye mixes borrador and borrar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. borrador runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against borrar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: borrador vs borrar
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "borrador" for "borrar" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "borrador" or "borrar" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "borrador" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "borrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "borrador" and "borrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bordar vs borrar". 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 #283,856 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.