obradorvsobrarWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#11,095
“obrador” frequency rank
#28,474
“obrar” frequency rank
39569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obrador obrar
Definition Que obra. Ejecutar una acción, hacer algo.

Where the eye mixes obrador and obrar

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

7 ch
obrador
5 ch
obrar

Look-alike desk: obrador vs obrar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obrador is [oβ̞ɾaˈð̞oɾ] while obrar is [oˈβ̞ɾaɾ]. 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 39569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obrador is recorded at frequency rank #11,095, classified as anadj, pronounced [oβ̞ɾaˈð̞oɾ]. obrar is at rank #28,474, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈβ̞ɾaɾ].

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 39569, this pair ranks #163,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obrador vs obrar

Shared letters: abor. Private to "obrador": d. Private to "obrar": -.

"obrador" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "obrar" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obrador ← obardor · obbrador · obraddor · obradorr · obradro · obraodr · obrdaor · orbador
  • obrar ← obarr · obbrar · obrarr · ovrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "obrador" for "obrar" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "obrador" is an adjective and "obrar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "obrador" or "obrar"?
"obrador" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,095 in our Spanish list, against #28,474 for "obrar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "obrador" and "obrar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obrador" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,800 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obrador" and "obrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obrar vs oirá". 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 #163,800 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