priorvsprivarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prior is a adjective, privar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prior” is an adjective and “privar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,281
“prior” frequency rank
#28,888
“privar” frequency rank
53169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prior privar
Definition Anterior, precedente, en términos escolásticos. Quitarle algo a alguien.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
prior
6 ch
privar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prior is [ˈpɾjoɾ] while privar is [pɾiˈβ̞aɾ]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prior is recorded at frequency rank #24,281, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpɾjoɾ]. privar is at rank #28,888, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾiˈβ̞aɾ].

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 53169, this pair ranks #89,181 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prior vs privar

Shared letters: ipr. Private to "prior": o. Private to "privar": av.

"prior" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "privar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • priorpiror · pprior · priorr · priro · proir · prrior · rpior
  • privarpirvar · pprivar · priavr · pribar · privarr · privra · privvar · prrivar

Frequency comparison

prior#24,281
privar#28,888

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prior" and "privar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prior" is an adjective and "privar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prior" or "privar"?
"prior" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,281 in our Spanish list, against #28,888 for "privar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prior vs privar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “prior”; for a verb, it's “privar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “prior” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list