disparavsdisparabaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,978
“dispara” frequency rank
#39,703
“disparaba” frequency rank
49681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dispara disparaba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de disparar o de dispararse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de disparar o de dispararse.

Where the eye mixes dispara and disparaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dispara runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against disparaba's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
dispara
9 ch
disparaba

Visual trap between dispara and disparaba

A purely visual mix-up. dispara ([d̪isˈpaɾa]) and disparaba ([d̪ispaˈɾaβ̞a]) 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 extra letter(s) - “dispara” sits inside “disparaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dispara is recorded at frequency rank #9,978, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪isˈpaɾa]. disparaba is at rank #39,703, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪ispaˈɾaβ̞a].

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 49681, this pair ranks #107,443 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dispara vs disparaba

Shared letters: adiprs. Private to "dispara": -. Private to "disparaba": b.

"dispara" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "disparaba" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dispara ← ddispara · dipsara · disapra · dispaar · disppara · dispraa · disspara · dsipara
  • disparaba ← ddisparaba · dipsaraba · disapraba · dispaarba · disparaab · disparabba · disparava · disparbaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dispara" and "disparaba" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪isˈpaɾa] versus [d̪ispaˈɾaβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dispara" vs "disparaba" - which ranks higher?
"dispara" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,978 in our Spanish list, against #39,703 for "disparaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dispara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "disparaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,443 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dispara" and "disparaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "disparaba vs disparada". 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 #107,443 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