openvsoptaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#6,335
“open” frequency rank
#24,978
“opta” frequency rank
31313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature open opta
Definition Abierto. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de optar.

Where the eye mixes open and opta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
open
4 ch
opta

Look-alike desk: open vs opta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: open is /ˈəʊ.pən/ 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

open is recorded at frequency rank #6,335, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈəʊ.pən/. 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 31313, this pair ranks #207,695 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of open vs opta

Shared letters: op. Private to "open": en. Private to "opta": at.

"open" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "opta" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • openoepn · openn · oppen
  • optaopat · oppta · optta · otpa · pota

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "open" and "opta" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "open" is an adjective and "opta" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "open" or "opta"?
"open" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,335 in our Spanish list, against #24,978 for "opta". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "open" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "opta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #207,695 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "open" and "opta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oirá vs opta". 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 #207,695 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