Which to use
“graba” is a verb and “grava” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,052
- “graba” frequency rank
- #23,800
- “grava” frequency rank
- 36852
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graba | grava |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de grabar. | Piedra machacada (o la arena más gruesa, que la mayor es de río) con que se cubre y allana el piso de los caminos, las calles de los jardines, etc. |
Same sound, different letters: graba vs grava
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - graba and grava
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: graba and grava carry the same recorded pronunciation, [ˈgɾaβ̞a]. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - b in “graba” becomes v in “grava”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36852, 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]. grava is at rank #23,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈgɾaβ̞a].
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 36852, this pair ranks #178,433 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of graba vs grava
Shared letters: agr. Private to "graba": b. Private to "grava": v.
"graba" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "grava" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "graba" and "grava" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "graba" or "grava" show up more?
Useful next steps
"graba" and "grava" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "graba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grava" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,433 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graba" and "grava" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gara vs grava". 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 #178,433 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.