guitarvsgustarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,250
“guitar” frequency rank
#6,542
“gustar” frequency rank
45792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature guitar gustar
Definition Coser o trabajar con guita, bramante o piolín dándole forma. Ser agradable, obtener aprobación.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set guitar and gustar apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
guitar
6 ch
gustar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. guitar ([giˈt̪aɾ]) and gustar ([gusˈt̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - i in “guitar” becomes s in “gustar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

guitar is recorded at frequency rank #39,250, classified as averb, pronounced [giˈt̪aɾ]. gustar is at rank #6,542, tagged as averb, pronounced [gusˈt̪aɾ].

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 45792, this pair ranks #129,428 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of guitar vs gustar

Shared letters: agrtu. Private to "guitar": i. Private to "gustar": s.

"guitar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "gustar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • guitargguitar · giutar · guiatr · guitarr · guitra · guittar · gutiar · ugitar
  • gustarggustar · gsutar · gusatr · gusstar · gustarr · gustra · gusttar · gutsar

Frequency comparison

guitar#39,250
gustar#6,542

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "guitar" and "gustar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([giˈt̪aɾ] versus [gusˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "guitar" or "gustar"?
"gustar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,542 in our Spanish list, against #39,250 for "guitar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering guitar vs gustar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “guitar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list