durabavsduraraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,323
“duraba” frequency rank
#38,075
“durara” frequency rank
69398
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duraba durara
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de durar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo de durar.

Where the eye mixes duraba and durara

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. duraba and durara follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
duraba
6 ch
durara

Visual trap between duraba and durara

A purely visual mix-up. duraba ([d̪uˈɾaβ̞a]) and durara ([d̪uˈɾaɾa]) 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 a single letter - b in “duraba” becomes r in “durara”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duraba is recorded at frequency rank #31,323, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪uˈɾaβ̞a]. durara is at rank #38,075, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪uˈɾaɾa].

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 69398, this pair ranks #32,077 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of duraba vs durara

Shared letters: adru. Private to "duraba": b. Private to "durara": -.

"duraba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "durara" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duraba ← dduraba · druaba · duarba · duraab · durabba · durava · durbaa · durraba
  • durara ← ddurara · druara · duarra · duraar · durarra · durraa · durrara · udrara

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duraba" and "durara" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪uˈɾaβ̞a] versus [d̪uˈɾaɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "duraba" or "durara" show up more?
"duraba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,323 in our Spanish list, against #38,075 for "durara". 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 "duraba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "durara" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,077 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "duraba" and "durara" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dudaría vs durara". 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 #32,077 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