DuránvsduraraTell them apart

Quick tell: Durán is a name, durara is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Durán” is a name and “durara” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,140
“Durán” frequency rank
#38,075
“durara” frequency rank
50215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes Durán and durara

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Durán
6 ch
durara

Visual trap between Durán and durara

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Durán is [d̪uˈɾãn] while durara is [d̪uˈɾaɾa]. 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 (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Durán is recorded at frequency rank #12,140, classified as aname, pronounced [d̪uˈɾãn]. 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 50215, this pair ranks #104,453 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Durán vs durara

Shared letters: dru. Private to "Durán": . Private to "durara": a.

"Durán" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "durara" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duraraddurara · druara · duarra · duraar · durarra · durraa · durrara · udrara

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Durán" for "durara" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Durán" is a name and "durara" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Durán" vs "durara" - which ranks higher?
"Durán" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,140 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Durán" 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 #104,453 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Durán" 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 #104,453 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