parabavsparadaTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#18,339
“paraba” frequency rank
#3,646
“parada” frequency rank
21985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paraba parada
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de parar o de pararse. Acción o efecto de parar, detenerse, suspender un movimiento o acción.

Where the eye mixes paraba and parada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
paraba
6 ch
parada

Visual trap between paraba and parada

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: paraba is [paˈɾaβ̞a] while parada is [paˈɾað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “paraba” becomes d in “parada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paraba is recorded at frequency rank #18,339, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈɾaβ̞a]. parada is at rank #3,646, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paˈɾað̞a].

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 21985, this pair ranks #252,433 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of paraba vs parada

Shared letters: apr. Private to "paraba": b. Private to "parada": d.

"paraba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "parada" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parabaapraba · paarba · paraab · parabba · parava · parbaa · parraba · pparaba
  • paradaaprada · paarda · paraad · paradda · pardaa · parrada · pparada · praada

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "paraba" for "parada" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "paraba" is a verb and "parada" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "paraba" or "parada" show up more?
"parada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,646 in our Spanish list, against #18,339 for "paraba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "paraba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "parada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #252,433 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paraba" and "parada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paraba vs parca". 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 #252,433 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