fábricavsfabricarWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,833
“fábrica” frequency rank
#9,297
“fabricar” frequency rank
12130
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fábrica fabricar
Definition Acción y efecto de fabricar. Producir algún tipo de objeto en serie, generalmente empleando medios mecánicos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fábrica and fabricar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
fábrica
8 ch
fabricar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fábrica is [ˈfaβ̞ɾika] while fabricar is [faβ̞ɾiˈkaɾ]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fábrica is recorded at frequency rank #2,833, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfaβ̞ɾika]. fabricar is at rank #9,297, tagged as averb, pronounced [faβ̞ɾiˈkaɾ].

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 12130, this pair ranks #292,632 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fábrica vs fabricar

Shared letters: abcfir. Private to "fábrica": á. Private to "fabricar": -.

"fábrica" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "fabricar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fabricarafbricar · fabbricar · fabircar · fabrciar · fabriacr · fabricarr · fabriccar · fabricra

Frequency comparison

fábrica#2,833
fabricar#9,297

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fábrica" and "fabricar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fábrica" is a noun and "fabricar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fábrica" or "fabricar"?
"fábrica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,833 in our Spanish list, against #9,297 for "fabricar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fábrica vs fabricar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fábrica”; for a verb, it's “fabricar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fábrica” 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