dudarvsdumaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,711
“dudar” frequency rank
#39,714
“duma” frequency rank
47425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dudar duma
Definition Estar indeciso entre dos o más opciones, no estar seguro de qué hacer. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dumir.

Where the eye mixes dudar and duma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dudar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against duma's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
dudar
4 ch
duma

Look-alike desk: dudar vs duma

A purely visual mix-up. dudar ([d̪uˈð̞aɾ]) and duma ([ˈd̪uma]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dudar is recorded at frequency rank #7,711, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪uˈð̞aɾ]. duma is at rank #39,714, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪uma].

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 47425, this pair ranks #120,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dudar vs duma

Shared letters: adu. Private to "dudar": r. Private to "duma": m.

"dudar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "duma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dudar ← dduar · ddudar · duadr · dudarr · duddar · dudra · uddar
  • duma ← dduma · dmua · duam · dumma · udma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dudar" for "duma" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪uˈð̞aɾ] versus [ˈd̪uma]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dudar" vs "duma" - which ranks higher?
"dudar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,711 in our Spanish list, against #39,714 for "duma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "dudar" and "duma" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dudar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #120,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dudar" and "duma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Deva vs duma". 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 #120,138 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