obravsocreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: obra is a noun, ocre is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“obra” is a noun and “ocre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#447
“obra” frequency rank
#39,892
“ocre” frequency rank
40339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obra ocre
Definition Resultado de un trabajo. Color amarillo oscuro, tirando ligeramente a café.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set obra and ocre apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
obra
4 ch
ocre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obra is [ˈoβ̞ɾa] while ocre is [ˈokɾe]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obra is recorded at frequency rank #447, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈoβ̞ɾa]. ocre is at rank #39,892, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈokɾe].

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 40339, this pair ranks #159,640 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obra vs ocre

Shared letters: or. Private to "obra": ab. Private to "ocre": ce.

"obra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "ocre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obraobar · obbra · obrra · orba · ovra
  • ocreoccre · ocer · orce

Frequency comparison

obra#447
ocre#39,892

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "obra" and "ocre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "obra" is a noun and "ocre" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "obra" or "ocre"?
"obra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #447 in our Spanish list, against #39,892 for "ocre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering obra vs ocre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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