perdonarvspersonaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,343
“perdonar” frequency rank
#218
“persona” frequency rank
9561
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perdonar persona
Definition Librar a alguno de la culpa o daño que de otro modo se le atribuiría por un acto. Individuo perteneciente a la especie humana.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perdonar and persona apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
perdonar
7 ch
persona

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perdonar is [peɾð̞oˈnaɾ] while persona is [peɾˈsona]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 9561, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perdonar is recorded at frequency rank #9,343, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾð̞oˈnaɾ]. persona is at rank #218, tagged as anoun, pronounced [peɾˈsona].

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 9561, this pair ranks #301,556 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of perdonar vs persona

Shared letters: aenopr. Private to "perdonar": d. Private to "persona": s.

"perdonar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "persona" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perdonareprdonar · pedronar · perddonar · perdnoar · perdoanr · perdonarr · perdonnar · perdonra
  • personaeprsona · perosna · perrsona · persnoa · persoan · personna · perssona · pesrona

Frequency comparison

perdonar#9,343
persona#218

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perdonar" and "persona" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "perdonar" is a verb and "persona" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "perdonar" or "persona"?
"persona" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #218 in our Spanish list, against #9,343 for "perdonar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering perdonar vs persona

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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