importadorvsimportarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: importador is a adjective, importar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“importador” is an adjective and “importar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,268
“importador” frequency rank
#3,128
“importar” frequency rank
30396
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature importador importar
Definition Que importa mercadurías, modas, costumbres, etc de otros países o territorios. Merecer atención y valoración por su entidad o significatividad.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set importador and importar apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
importador
8 ch
importar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: importador is [ĩmpoɾt̪aˈð̞oɾ] while importar is [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

importador is recorded at frequency rank #27,268, classified as anadj, pronounced [ĩmpoɾt̪aˈð̞oɾ]. importar is at rank #3,128, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aɾ].

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 30396, this pair ranks #212,201 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of importador vs importar

Shared letters: aimoprt. Private to "importador": d. Private to "importar": -.

"importador" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "importar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • importadorimmportador · imoprtador · imporatdor · imporrtador · importaddor · importadorr · importadro · importaodr
  • importarimmportar · imoprtar · imporatr · imporrtar · importarr · importra · importtar · impotrar

Frequency comparison

importador#27,268
importar#3,128

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "importador" and "importar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "importador" is an adjective and "importar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "importador" or "importar"?
"importar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,128 in our Spanish list, against #27,268 for "importador". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering importador vs importar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “importador”; for a verb, it's “importar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “importador” 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