grabavsgradoWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#13,052
“graba” frequency rank
#1,317
“grado” frequency rank
14369
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature graba grado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de grabar. Valor, situación, estado o calidad que una cosa puede tener, en una escala ascendente o descendente, en relación con otra.

Where the eye mixes graba and grado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
graba
5 ch
grado

Visual trap between graba and grado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: graba is [ˈgɾaβ̞a] while grado is [ˈgɾað̞o]. 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 14369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

graba is recorded at frequency rank #13,052, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgɾaβ̞a]. grado is at rank #1,317, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈgɾað̞o].

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 14369, this pair ranks #284,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of graba vs grado

Shared letters: agr. Private to "graba": b. Private to "grado": do.

"graba" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "grado" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grabagarba · ggraba · graab · grabba · grbaa · grraba · rgaba
  • gradogardo · ggrado · graddo · graod · grdao · grrado · rgado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "graba" and "grado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "graba" is a verb and "grado" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "graba" or "grado"?
"grado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,317 in our Spanish list, against #13,052 for "graba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "graba" and "grado" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "graba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "graba" and "grado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gara vs graba". 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 #284,372 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