grabavsgramaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#13,052
“graba” frequency rank
#44,221
“grama” frequency rank
57273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature graba grama
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de grabar. (Cynodon dactylon) Hierba de la familia de las gramíneas, tallo rastrero, hojas cortas y planas, flores en espigas. Mide entre diez y quince cm. de altura. Es cosmopolita e invade todo tipo de terrenos; se la considera una plaga. Los rizomas y estolones se usan en medicina natural en cocción como depurativo, diurético, expectorante y febrífugo.

Where the eye mixes graba and grama

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. graba and grama follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
graba
5 ch
grama

Visual trap between graba and grama

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: graba is [ˈgɾaβ̞a] while grama is [ˈgɾama]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “graba” becomes m in “grama”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57273, 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]. grama is at rank #44,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈgɾama].

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 57273, this pair ranks #71,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of graba vs grama

Shared letters: agr. Private to "graba": b. Private to "grama": m.

"graba" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "grama" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • graba ← garba · ggraba · graab · grabba · grbaa · grraba · rgaba
  • grama ← garma · ggrama · graam · gramma · grmaa · grrama · rgama

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "graba" and "grama" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "graba" is a verb and "grama" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "graba" or "grama"?
"graba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,052 in our Spanish list, against #44,221 for "grama". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "graba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grama" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,153 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "graba" and "grama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grama vs grammar". 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 #71,153 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