Which to use
“obra” is a noun and “oral” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #447
- “obra” frequency rank
- #4,813
- “oral” frequency rank
- 5260
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obra | oral |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Resultado de un trabajo. | Propio de la boca. |
Where the eye mixes obra and oral
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses obra with oral
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obra is [ˈoβ̞ɾa] while oral is [oˈɾal]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 5260, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obra is recorded at frequency rank #447, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈoβ̞ɾa]. oral is at rank #4,813, tagged as anadj, pronounced [oˈɾal].
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 5260, this pair ranks #314,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obra vs oral
Shared letters: aor. Private to "obra": b. Private to "oral": l.
"obra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "oral" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "obra" for "oral" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "obra" or "oral" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "obra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "oral" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obra" and "oral" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oirá vs oral". 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 #314,084 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.