filmavsfilmarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,608
“filma” frequency rank
#13,470
“filmar” frequency rank
47078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filma filmar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de filmar. Grabar imágenes en una película cinematográfica.

Where the eye mixes filma and filmar

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

5 ch
filma
6 ch
filmar

Why the eye confuses filma with filmar

A purely visual mix-up. filma ([ˈfilma]) and filmar ([filˈmaɾ]) 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) - “filma” sits inside “filmar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filma is recorded at frequency rank #33,608, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfilma]. filmar is at rank #13,470, tagged as averb, pronounced [filˈmaɾ].

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 47078, this pair ranks #122,066 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of filma vs filmar

Shared letters: afilm. Private to "filma": -. Private to "filmar": r.

"filma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "filmar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filma ← ffilma · filam · fillma · filmma · fimla · flima · iflma
  • filmar ← ffilmar · filamr · fillmar · filmarr · filmmar · filmra · fimlar · flimar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "filma" and "filmar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfilma] versus [filˈmaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "filma" or "filmar" show up more?
"filmar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,470 in our Spanish list, against #33,608 for "filma". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "filma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filmar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,066 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filma" and "filmar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filma vs flama". 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 #122,066 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