grabarvsgravarTell them apart

Which to use

“grabar” and “gravar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,340
“grabar” frequency rank
#33,634
“gravar” frequency rank
37974
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grabar gravar
Definition Labrar —en relieve o en hueco— sobre una superficie dura algún símbolo, señal, texto, figura o representación. Cargar, pesar sobre una persona o cosa.

Same sound, different letters: grabar vs gravar

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. grabar and gravar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
grabar
6 ch
gravar

Homophone desk: grabar vs gravar

This is the hard kind. grabar and gravar are pronounced identically ([gɾaˈβ̞aɾ]) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - b in “grabar” becomes v in “gravar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37974, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grabar is recorded at frequency rank #4,340, classified as averb, pronounced [gɾaˈβ̞aɾ]. gravar is at rank #33,634, tagged as averb, pronounced [gɾaˈβ̞aɾ].

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 37974, this pair ranks #172,477 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grabar vs gravar

Shared letters: agr. Private to "grabar": b. Private to "gravar": v.

"grabar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "gravar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grabar ← garbar · ggrabar · graabr · grabarr · grabbar · grabra · grbaar · grrabar
  • gravar ← garvar · ggravar · graavr · gravarr · gravra · gravvar · grravar · grvaar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "grabar" for "gravar" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same ([gɾaˈβ̞aɾ]), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "grabar" vs "gravar" - which ranks higher?
"grabar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,340 in our Spanish list, against #33,634 for "gravar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "grabar" / "gravar". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grabar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gravar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #172,477 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grabar" and "gravar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grammar vs gravar". 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 #172,477 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