importavsimprontaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#536
“importa” frequency rank
#29,254
“impronta” frequency rank
29790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature importa impronta
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de importar. Reproducción de imágenes en hueco o de relieve, en cualquiera materia blanda o dúctil, como papel humedecido, cera, lacre, escayola, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set importa and impronta apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
importa
8 ch
impronta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: importa is [ĩmˈpoɾt̪a] while impronta is [ĩmˈpɾõn̪t̪a]. 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 29790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

importa is recorded at frequency rank #536, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmˈpoɾt̪a]. impronta is at rank #29,254, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ĩmˈpɾõn̪t̪a].

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 29790, this pair ranks #215,252 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of importa vs impronta

Shared letters: aimoprt. Private to "importa": -. Private to "impronta": n.

"importa" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "impronta" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • importaimmporta · imoprta · imporat · imporrta · importta · impotra · impporta · improta
  • improntaimmpronta · impornta · imppronta · imprnota · impronat · impronnta · improntta · improtna

Frequency comparison

importa#536
impronta#29,254

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "importa" and "impronta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "importa" is a verb and "impronta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "importa" or "impronta"?
"importa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #536 in our Spanish list, against #29,254 for "impronta". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering importa vs impronta

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “importa”; for a noun, it's “impronta”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “importa” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list