ocavsoiráWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: oca is a noun, oirá is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“oca” is a noun and “oirá” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,772
“oca” frequency rank
#49,173
“oirá” frequency rank
66945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oca oirá
Definition Ánsar común domesticado. Se cría para aprovechar su carne, huevos e hígado, este último materia prima del paté o foie gras. Es un ave de tamaño mediano, con cuerpo robusto y plumaje blanco, gris o pardo. Tiene cuello arqueado y pico grueso, con color encendido, lo mismo que sus patas que están adaptadas para la natación. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de oír.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oca and oirá apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
oca
4 ch
oirá

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oca is [ˈoka] while oirá is [ojˈɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oca is recorded at frequency rank #17,772, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈoka]. oirá is at rank #49,173, tagged as averb, pronounced [ojˈɾa].

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 66945, this pair ranks #38,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of oca vs oirá

Shared letters: o. Private to "oca": ac. Private to "oirá": irá.

"oca" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "oirá" · 4 letters · shape VVCV

Frequency comparison

oca#17,772
oirá#49,173

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oca" and "oirá" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oca" is a noun and "oirá" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "oca" or "oirá"?
"oca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,772 in our Spanish list, against #49,173 for "oirá". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oca vs oirá

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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