durarvsduraraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,417
“durar” frequency rank
#38,075
“durara” frequency rank
45492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature durar durara
Definition Continuar siendo, seguir existiendo, mantenerse en el mismo estado, permanecer en la misma situación, desarrollarse en el tiempo. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo de durar.

Where the eye mixes durar and durara

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. durar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against durara's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
durar
6 ch
durara

Why the eye confuses durar with durara

A purely visual mix-up. durar ([d̪uˈɾaɾ]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “durar” sits inside “durara”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

durar is recorded at frequency rank #7,417, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪uˈɾaɾ]. 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 45492, this pair ranks #131,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of durar vs durara

Shared letters: adru. Private to "durar": -. Private to "durara": -.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • durar ← ddurar · druar · duarr · durarr · durrar · udrar
  • durara ← ddurara · druara · duarra · duraar · durarra · durraa · durrara · udrara

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "durar" and "durara" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪uˈɾaɾ] versus [d̪uˈɾaɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "durar" or "durara"?
"durar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,417 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.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "durar" 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 #131,141 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "durar" 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 #131,141 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