Which to use
“quebrada” is a noun and “quebrado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,041
- “quebrada” frequency rank
- #18,059
- “quebrado” frequency rank
- 30100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quebrada | quebrado |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Que ha entrado en bancarrota o quiebra. |
Where the eye mixes quebrada and quebrado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between quebrada and quebrado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quebrada is [keˈβ̞ɾað̞a] while quebrado is [keˈβ̞ɾað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “quebrada” becomes o in “quebrado”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30100, 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]. quebrado is at rank #18,059, tagged as anadj, pronounced [keˈβ̞ɾað̞o].
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 30100, this pair ranks #213,677 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of quebrada vs quebrado
Shared letters: abdeqru. Private to "quebrada": -. Private to "quebrado": o.
"quebrada" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV · "quebrado" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "quebrada" and "quebrado" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "quebrada" or "quebrado" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "quebrado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,677 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "quebrada" and "quebrado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quebrado vs quebraron". 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 #213,677 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.