depavsduraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: depa is a noun, dura is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“depa” is a noun and “dura” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,846
“depa” frequency rank
#1,723
“dura” frequency rank
43569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature depa dura
Definition Departamento Forma del femenino singular de duro.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set depa and dura apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
depa
4 ch
dura

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: depa is [ˈd̪epa] while dura is [ˈd̪uɾa]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

depa is recorded at frequency rank #41,846, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪epa]. dura is at rank #1,723, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪uɾa].

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 43569, this pair ranks #141,950 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of depa vs dura

Shared letters: ad. Private to "depa": ep. Private to "dura": ru.

"depa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dura" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • depaddepa · deap · deppa · dpea · edpa
  • duraddura · drua · duar · durra · udra

Frequency comparison

depa#41,846
dura#1,723

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "depa" and "dura" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "depa" is a noun and "dura" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "depa" or "dura"?
"dura" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,723 in our Spanish list, against #41,846 for "depa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering depa vs dura

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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