laburarvsladrarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,077
“laburar” frequency rank
#32,276
“ladrar” frequency rank
54353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laburar ladrar
Definition Desempeñar una ocupación por una retribución. Dar ladridos el perro.

Where the eye mixes laburar and ladrar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. laburar runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against ladrar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
laburar
6 ch
ladrar

Visual trap between laburar and ladrar

A purely visual mix-up. laburar ([laβ̞uˈɾaɾ]) and ladrar ([laˈð̞ɾaɾ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laburar is recorded at frequency rank #22,077, classified as averb, pronounced [laβ̞uˈɾaɾ]. ladrar is at rank #32,276, tagged as averb, pronounced [laˈð̞ɾaɾ].

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 54353, this pair ranks #83,724 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of laburar vs ladrar

Shared letters: alr. Private to "laburar": bu. Private to "ladrar": d.

"laburar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "ladrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • laburaralburar · labburar · labruar · labuarr · laburarr · laburra · laburrar · laubrar
  • ladraraldrar · ladarr · laddrar · ladrarr · ladrrar · lardar · ldarar · lladrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "laburar" for "ladrar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([laβ̞uˈɾaɾ] versus [laˈð̞ɾaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "laburar" or "ladrar"?
"laburar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,077 in our Spanish list, against #32,276 for "ladrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "laburar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ladrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #83,724 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "laburar" and "ladrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laborar vs ladrar". 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 #83,724 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