quebradavsquebradasWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: quebrada is a noun, quebradas is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quebrada” is a noun and “quebradas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,041
“quebrada” frequency rank
#25,419
“quebradas” frequency rank
37460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quebrada quebradas
Definition Hondonada profunda sobre una montaña, de paredes abruptas, excavada por las aguas en el transcurso del tiempo o por acción tectónica, por cuyo fondo corre un riachuelo o arroyo al menos durante una parte del año. Forma del femenino plural de quebrado, participio de quebrar o de quebrarse.

Where the eye mixes quebrada and quebradas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
quebrada
9 ch
quebradas

Look-alike desk: quebrada vs quebradas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quebrada is [keˈβ̞ɾað̞a] while quebradas is [keˈβ̞ɾað̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “quebrada” sits inside “quebradas”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quebrada is recorded at frequency rank #12,041, classified as anoun, pronounced [keˈβ̞ɾað̞a]. quebradas is at rank #25,419, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [keˈβ̞ɾað̞as].

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 37460, this pair ranks #175,188 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quebrada vs quebradas

Shared letters: abdeqru. Private to "quebrada": -. Private to "quebradas": s.

"quebrada" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV  ·  "quebradas" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quebradaqeubrada · qquebrada · quberada · quebarda · quebbrada · quebraad · quebradda · quebrdaa
  • quebradasqeubradas · qquebradas · quberadas · quebardas · quebbradas · quebraads · quebradass · quebraddas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quebrada" and "quebradas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quebrada" is a noun and "quebradas" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "quebrada" vs "quebradas" - which ranks higher?
"quebrada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,041 in our Spanish list, against #25,419 for "quebradas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quebrada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quebradas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #175,188 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quebrada" and "quebradas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quebradas vs quebrados". 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 #175,188 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