Which to use
“primera” is an adjective and “prometa” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #177
- “primera” frequency rank
- #48,017
- “prometa” frequency rank
- 48194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | primera | prometa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De una sucesión de cosas la que ocurre o tiene lugar antes que las demás. Forma femenina de primero. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de prometer o de prometerse. |
Where the eye mixes primera and prometa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses primera with prometa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: primera is [pɾiˈmeɾa] while prometa is [pɾoˈmet̪a]. 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 48194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
primera is recorded at frequency rank #177, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɾiˈmeɾa]. prometa is at rank #48,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈmet̪a].
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 48194, this pair ranks #115,831 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of primera vs prometa
Shared letters: aempr. Private to "primera": i. Private to "prometa": ot.
"primera" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "prometa" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "primera" for "prometa" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "primera" or "prometa" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "primera" and "prometa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "primera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prometa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #115,831 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "primera" and "prometa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prometa vs prometio". 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 #115,831 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.