grúavsgrutasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,427
“grúa” frequency rank
#37,117
“grutas” frequency rank
56544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grúa grutas
Definition (familia Gruidae) Cualquiera de unas quince especies de aves gruiformes de gran tamaño, con cuerpos estilizados, cuello y patas largos, y alas de perfil redondeado, que habitan en humedales de todo el mundo. Forma del plural de gruta.

Where the eye mixes grúa and grutas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. grúa runs 4 letters (CCVV) against grutas's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
grúa
6 ch
grutas

Why the eye confuses grúa with grutas

A purely visual mix-up. grúa ([ˈgɾua]) and grutas ([ˈgɾut̪as]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grúa is recorded at frequency rank #19,427, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈgɾua]. grutas is at rank #37,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈgɾut̪as].

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 56544, this pair ranks #74,186 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of grúa vs grutas

Shared letters: agr. Private to "grúa": ú. Private to "grutas": stu.

"grúa" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "grutas" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grutas ← ggrutas · grrutas · grtuas · gruats · grutass · grutsa · gruttas · gurtas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "grúa" for "grutas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgɾua] versus [ˈgɾut̪as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "grúa" or "grutas"?
"grúa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,427 in our Spanish list, against #37,117 for "grutas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "grúa" and "grutas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "grúa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "grutas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,186 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "grúa" and "grutas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gaitas vs grutas". 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 #74,186 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