otorgavsotorgarTell them apart

Which to use

“otorga” and “otorgar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,543
“otorga” frequency rank
#10,192
“otorgar” frequency rank
15735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature otorga otorgar
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de otorgar. Acceder, aceptar o decir que sí a algo solicitado o preguntado.

Where the eye mixes otorga and otorgar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
otorga
7 ch
otorgar

Why the eye confuses otorga with otorgar

A purely visual mix-up. otorga ([oˈt̪oɾɣ̞a]) and otorgar ([ot̪oɾˈɣ̞aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “otorga” sits inside “otorgar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

otorga is recorded at frequency rank #5,543, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈt̪oɾɣ̞a]. otorgar is at rank #10,192, tagged as averb, pronounced [ot̪oɾˈɣ̞aɾ].

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 15735, this pair ranks #278,990 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of otorga vs otorgar

Shared letters: agort. Private to "otorga": -. Private to "otorgar": -.

"otorga" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "otorgar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • otorgaootrga · otogra · otorag · otorgga · otorrga · otroga · ottorga · toorga
  • otorgarootrgar · otograr · otoragr · otorgarr · otorggar · otorgra · otorrgar · otrogar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "otorga" and "otorgar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([oˈt̪oɾɣ̞a] versus [ot̪oɾˈɣ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "otorga" or "otorgar" show up more?
"otorga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,543 in our Spanish list, against #10,192 for "otorgar". 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 "otorga" and "otorgar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "otorga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "otorgar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #278,990 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "otorga" and "otorgar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "otorgaba vs otorgar". 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 #278,990 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