dotaciónvsduraciónWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#15,355
“dotación” frequency rank
#3,115
“duración” frequency rank
18470
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dotación duración
Definition Acción o efecto de dotar. Acción o efecto de durar.

Where the eye mixes dotación and duración

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dotación and duración follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
dotación
8 ch
duración

Visual trap between dotación and duración

A purely visual mix-up. dotación ([d̪ot̪aˈsjõn]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dotación is recorded at frequency rank #15,355, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪ot̪aˈsjõn]. 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 18470, this pair ranks #267,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dotación vs duración

Shared letters: acdinó. Private to "dotación": ot. Private to "duración": ru.

"dotación" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "duración" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dotación" and "duración" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪ot̪aˈsjõn] versus [d̪uɾaˈsjõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dotación" or "duración"?
"duración" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,115 in our Spanish list, against #15,355 for "dotación". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "dotación" 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 #267,785 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dotación" and "duración" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dilación vs dotación". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #267,785 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