escobavsescojaTell them apart

Quick tell: escoba is a noun, escoja is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“escoba” is a noun and “escoja” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,535
“escoba” frequency rank
#29,203
“escoja” frequency rank
47738
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escoba escoja
Definition Instrumento de limpieza utilizado para remover del piso, el polvo y basura en general. Esta compuesto por un palo en cuyo extremo se encuentra un haz de fibras. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de escoger.

Where the eye mixes escoba and escoja

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

6 ch
escoba
6 ch
escoja

Look-alike desk: escoba vs escoja

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: escoba is [esˈkoβ̞a] while escoja is [esˈkoxa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “escoba” becomes j in “escoja”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escoba is recorded at frequency rank #18,535, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈkoβ̞a]. escoja is at rank #29,203, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈkoxa].

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 47738, this pair ranks #118,404 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escoba vs escoja

Shared letters: aceos. Private to "escoba": b. Private to "escoja": j.

"escoba" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "escoja" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escoba ← ecsoba · escboa · esccoba · escoab · escobba · escova · esocba · esscoba
  • escoja ← ecsoja · esccoja · escjoa · escoaj · escojja · esocja · esscoja · secoja

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "escoba" for "escoja" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "escoba" is a noun and "escoja" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "escoba" or "escoja"?
"escoba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,535 in our Spanish list, against #29,203 for "escoja". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "escoba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escoja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #118,404 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escoba" and "escoja" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esboza vs escoja". 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 #118,404 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