daciónvsduraciónConfusable pair

Which to use

“dación” and “duración” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,376
“dación” frequency rank
#3,115
“duración” frequency rank
45491
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dación duración
Definition acción y efecto de dar. Acción o efecto de durar.

Where the eye mixes dación and duración

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dación runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against duración's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
dación
8 ch
duración

Why the eye confuses dación with duración

A purely visual mix-up. dación ([d̪aˈsjõn]) and duración ([d̪uɾaˈsjõn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dación is recorded at frequency rank #42,376, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪aˈsjõn]. duración is at rank #3,115, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪uɾaˈsjõn].

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 45491, this pair ranks #131,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dación vs duración

Shared letters: acdinó. Private to "dación": -. Private to "duración": ru.

"dación" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "duración" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dación" and "duración" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪aˈsjõn] versus [d̪uɾaˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dación" vs "duración" - which ranks higher?
"duración" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,115 in our Spanish list, against #42,376 for "dación". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dación" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duración" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dación" and "duración" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dación vs dilación". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #131,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list