igualarvsigualdadWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: igualar is a verb, igualdad is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“igualar” is a verb and “igualdad” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,357
“igualar” frequency rank
#1,940
“igualdad” frequency rank
18297
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature igualar igualdad
Definition Poner un ser al mismo nivel o en igualdad con otro. Hacerlos iguales en categoría, condición, apariencia o características. Simetría o conformidad de algo en comparación con otra cosa en cuanto a su naturaleza, forma, calidad, cantidad, valor, etc. Condición o carácter de igual.

Where the eye mixes igualar and igualdad

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. igualar runs 7 letters (VCVVCVC) against igualdad's 8 (VCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
igualar
8 ch
igualdad

Look-alike desk: igualar vs igualdad

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: igualar is [iɣ̞waˈlaɾ] while igualdad is [iɣ̞wal̪ˈd̪að̞]. 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 18297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

igualar is recorded at frequency rank #16,357, classified as averb, pronounced [iɣ̞waˈlaɾ]. igualdad is at rank #1,940, tagged as anoun, pronounced [iɣ̞wal̪ˈd̪að̞].

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 18297, this pair ranks #268,503 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of igualar vs igualdad

Shared letters: agilu. Private to "igualar": r. Private to "igualdad": d.

"igualar" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC  ·  "igualdad" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • igualar ← giualar · igaular · iggualar · iguaalr · igualarr · iguallar · igualra · igulaar
  • igualdad ← giualdad · igauldad · iggualdad · iguadlad · igualadd · igualdadd · igualdda · igualddad

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "igualar" and "igualdad" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "igualar" is a verb and "igualdad" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "igualar" or "igualdad" show up more?
"igualdad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,940 in our Spanish list, against #16,357 for "igualar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "igualar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "igualdad" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #268,503 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "igualar" and "igualdad" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "igualar vs iguanas". 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 #268,503 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