dueñavsduraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dueña is a noun, dura is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dueña” is a noun and “dura” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,254
“dueña” frequency rank
#1,723
“dura” frequency rank
9977
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dueña dura
Definition Mujer que posee algo. Forma del femenino singular de duro.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dueña and dura apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dueña
4 ch
dura

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dueña is [ˈd̪weɲa] while dura is [ˈd̪uɾa]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9977, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dueña is recorded at frequency rank #8,254, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪weɲa]. dura is at rank #1,723, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈd̪uɾa].

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 9977, this pair ranks #300,225 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dueña vs dura

Shared letters: adu. Private to "dueña": . Private to "dura": r.

"dueña" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "dura" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duraddura · drua · duar · durra · udra

Frequency comparison

dueña#8,254
dura#1,723

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dueña" and "dura" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dueña" is a noun and "dura" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dueña" or "dura"?
"dura" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,723 in our Spanish list, against #8,254 for "dueña". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dueña vs dura

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dueña”; for an adjective, it's “dura”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dueña” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list