grabadoravsgrabadosTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#27,250
“grabadora” frequency rank
#11,590
“grabados” frequency rank
38840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grabadora grabados
Definition Instrumento que graba, normalmente información sobre una superficie sólida. Forma del plural de grabado, participio de grabar.

Where the eye mixes grabadora and grabados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. grabadora runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against grabados's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
grabadora
8 ch
grabados

Why the eye confuses grabadora with grabados

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: grabadora is [gɾaβ̞aˈð̞oɾa] while grabados is [gɾaˈβ̞að̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grabadora is recorded at frequency rank #27,250, classified as anoun, pronounced [gɾaβ̞aˈð̞oɾa]. grabados is at rank #11,590, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [gɾaˈβ̞að̞os].

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 38840, this pair ranks #167,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grabadora vs grabados

Shared letters: abdgor. Private to "grabadora": -. Private to "grabados": s.

"grabadora" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "grabados" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grabadora ← garbadora · ggrabadora · graabdora · grabaddora · grabadoar · grabadorra · grabadroa · grabaodra
  • grabados ← garbados · ggrabados · graabdos · grabaddos · grabadoss · grabadso · grabaods · grabbados

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "grabadora" for "grabados" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "grabadora" is a noun and "grabados" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "grabadora" or "grabados"?
"grabados" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,590 in our Spanish list, against #27,250 for "grabadora". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "grabadora" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grabados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #167,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grabadora" and "grabados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grabador vs grabadora". 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 #167,800 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