derogavsdrogaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: deroga is a verb, droga is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“deroga” is a verb and “droga” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,235
“deroga” frequency rank
#3,396
“droga” frequency rank
43631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deroga droga
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de derogar. Sustancia que, ingerida o asimilada de otra manera, altera las funciones de un organismo.

Where the eye mixes deroga and droga

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
deroga
5 ch
droga

Look-alike desk: deroga vs droga

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deroga is [d̪eˈɾoɣ̞a] while droga is [ˈd̪ɾoɣ̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deroga is recorded at frequency rank #40,235, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈɾoɣ̞a]. droga is at rank #3,396, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪ɾoɣ̞a].

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 43631, this pair ranks #141,579 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deroga vs droga

Shared letters: adgor. Private to "deroga": e. Private to "droga": -.

"deroga" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "droga" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • derogadderoga · deorga · dergoa · deroag · derogga · derroga · dreoga · edroga
  • drogaddroga · dorga · drgoa · droag · drogga · drroga · rdoga

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deroga" and "droga" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deroga" is a verb and "droga" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deroga" or "droga"?
"droga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,396 in our Spanish list, against #40,235 for "deroga". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deroga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "droga" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,579 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deroga" and "droga" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deroga vs drogo". 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 #141,579 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