dibujavsdirijaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,224
“dibuja” frequency rank
#19,995
“dirija” frequency rank
38219
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dibuja dirija
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dibujar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dirigir o de dirigirse.

Where the eye mixes dibuja and dirija

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dibuja and dirija follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
dibuja
6 ch
dirija

Visual trap between dibuja and dirija

A purely visual mix-up. dibuja ([d̪iˈβ̞uxa]) and dirija ([d̪iˈɾixa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dibuja is recorded at frequency rank #18,224, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪iˈβ̞uxa]. dirija is at rank #19,995, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪iˈɾixa].

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 38219, this pair ranks #171,183 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dibuja vs dirija

Shared letters: adij. Private to "dibuja": bu. Private to "dirija": r.

"dibuja" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "dirija" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dibuja ← dbiuja · ddibuja · dibbuja · dibjua · dibuaj · dibujja · diubja · divuja
  • dirija ← ddirija · diirja · diriaj · dirijja · dirjia · dirrija · driija · idrija

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dibuja" for "dirija" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪iˈβ̞uxa] versus [d̪iˈɾixa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dibuja" or "dirija" show up more?
"dibuja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,224 in our Spanish list, against #19,995 for "dirija". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dibuja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dirija" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,183 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dibuja" and "dirija" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dirija vs disipa". 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 #171,183 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