grabadasvsgradasWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: grabadas is a participle, gradas is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“grabadas” is a participle and “gradas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,980
“grabadas” frequency rank
#18,554
“gradas” frequency rank
36534
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grabadas gradas
Definition Forma del femenino plural de grabado, participio de grabar. Conjunto de escalones que suelen tener los edificios grandes, majestuosos, delante de su pórtico o fachada.

Where the eye mixes grabadas and gradas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. grabadas runs 8 letters (CCVCVCVC) against gradas's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
grabadas
6 ch
gradas

Why the eye confuses grabadas with gradas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grabadas is [gɾaˈβ̞að̞as] while gradas is [ˈgɾað̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (participle vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grabadas is recorded at frequency rank #17,980, classified as aparticiple, pronounced [gɾaˈβ̞að̞as]. gradas is at rank #18,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈgɾað̞as].

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 36534, this pair ranks #180,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grabadas vs gradas

Shared letters: adgrs. Private to "grabadas": b. Private to "gradas": -.

"grabadas" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "gradas" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grabadas ← garbadas · ggrabadas · graabdas · grabaads · grabadass · grabaddas · grabadsa · grabbadas
  • gradas ← gardas · ggradas · graads · gradass · graddas · gradsa · grdaas · grradas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grabadas" and "gradas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grabadas" is a participle and "gradas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grabadas" or "gradas"?
"grabadas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,980 in our Spanish list, against #18,554 for "gradas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "grabadas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gradas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #180,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grabadas" and "gradas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gradas vs granda". 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 #180,138 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