onzavsoptaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,194
“onza” frequency rank
#24,978
“opta” frequency rank
61172
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature onza opta
Definition Unidad de masa, equivalente a 28,7 g. o a 1/16 de libra. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de optar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
onza
4 ch
opta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: onza is [ˈõnsa] while opta is [ˈopt̪a]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

onza is recorded at frequency rank #36,194, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈõnsa]. opta is at rank #24,978, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈopt̪a].

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 61172, this pair ranks #56,392 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of onza vs opta

Shared letters: ao. Private to "onza": nz. Private to "opta": pt.

"onza" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "opta" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • onzanoza · onaz · onnza · onzza
  • optaopat · oppta · optta · otpa · pota

Frequency comparison

onza#36,194
opta#24,978

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "onza" and "opta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "onza" is a noun and "opta" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "onza" or "opta"?
"opta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,978 in our Spanish list, against #36,194 for "onza". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering onza vs opta

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “onza”; for a verb, it's “opta”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “onza” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list