formabavsforradaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#13,048
“formaba” frequency rank
#41,369
“forrada” frequency rank
54417
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature formaba forrada
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de formar o de formarse. Acto de maldad.

Where the eye mixes formaba and forrada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
formaba
7 ch
forrada

Why the eye confuses formaba with forrada

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: formaba is [foɾˈmaβ̞a] while forrada is [foˈrað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

formaba is recorded at frequency rank #13,048, classified as averb, pronounced [foɾˈmaβ̞a]. forrada is at rank #41,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced [foˈrað̞a].

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 54417, this pair ranks #83,397 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of formaba vs forrada

Shared letters: afor. Private to "formaba": bm. Private to "forrada": d.

"formaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "forrada" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • formabafformaba · fomraba · foramba · formaab · formabba · formava · formbaa · formmaba
  • forradafforrada · forada · forarda · forraad · forradda · forrdaa · frorada · ofrrada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "formaba" for "forrada" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "formaba" is a verb and "forrada" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "formaba" vs "forrada" - which ranks higher?
"formaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,048 in our Spanish list, against #41,369 for "forrada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "formaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "forrada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #83,397 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "formaba" and "forrada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "follada vs forrada". 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 #83,397 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