Which to use
“graban” is a verb and “grava” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,691
- “graban” frequency rank
- #23,800
- “grava” frequency rank
- 45491
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graban | grava |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 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. |
Where the eye mixes graban and grava
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. graban runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against grava's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses graban with grava
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: graban is [ˈgɾaβ̞ãn] while grava is [ˈgɾaβ̞a]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
graban is recorded at frequency rank #21,691, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgɾaβ̞ãn]. 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 45491, this pair ranks #131,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of graban vs grava
Shared letters: agr. Private to "graban": bn. Private to "grava": v.
"graban" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "grava" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "graban" and "grava" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "graban" or "grava" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "graban" 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 #131,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graban" 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 #131,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.