Which to use
“guardar” and “guardarse” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,927
- “guardar” frequency rank
- #36,074
- “guardarse” frequency rank
- 40001
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guardar | guardarse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Colocar algo en sitio seguro y apropiado para ello | Recelarse y precaverse de un riesgo. |
Where the eye mixes guardar and guardarse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses guardar with guardarse
A purely visual mix-up. guardar ([gwaɾˈð̞aɾ]) and guardarse ([gwaɾˈð̞aɾse]) 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 extra letter(s) - “guardar” sits inside “guardarse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guardar is recorded at frequency rank #3,927, classified as averb, pronounced [gwaɾˈð̞aɾ]. guardarse is at rank #36,074, tagged as averb, pronounced [gwaɾˈð̞aɾse].
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 40001, this pair ranks #161,460 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of guardar vs guardarse
Shared letters: adgru. Private to "guardar": -. Private to "guardarse": es.
"guardar" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "guardarse" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "guardar" for "guardarse" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "guardar" or "guardarse" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "guardar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guardarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #161,460 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "guardar" and "guardarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guardará vs guardarse". 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 #161,460 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.