partíavspataWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#31,043
“partía” frequency rank
#5,869
“pata” frequency rank
36912
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature partía pata
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de partir o de partirse. Extremidad de los animales utilizada para la locomoción en tierra, que va en número de un único par en las aves y los primates hasta unos 200 pares en los miriápodos de la clase Diplopoda. Funcionalmente similar, es sin embargo evolutivamente muy diferente entre invertebrados y vertebrados. En estos últimos está por lo general dividida claramente en dos secciones, articuladas en la rodilla.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set partía and pata apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
partía
4 ch
pata

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: partía is [paɾˈt̪ia] while pata is [ˈpat̪a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

partía is recorded at frequency rank #31,043, classified as averb, pronounced [paɾˈt̪ia]. pata is at rank #5,869, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪a].

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 36912, this pair ranks #178,121 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of partía vs pata

Shared letters: apt. Private to "partía": . Private to "pata": -.

"partía" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patapaat · patta · ppata · ptaa

Frequency comparison

partía#31,043
pata#5,869

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "partía" and "pata" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "partía" is a verb and "pata" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "partía" or "pata"?
"pata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,869 in our Spanish list, against #31,043 for "partía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering partía vs pata

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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