quebradavsquebradosTell them apart

Which to use

“quebrada” and “quebrados” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,041
“quebrada” frequency rank
#38,912
“quebrados” frequency rank
50953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quebrada quebrados
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. Trechos rayados y trechos sin rayas que hay en una de las diferentes clases de papel pautado en el que aprenden a escribir los niños.

Where the eye mixes quebrada and quebrados

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

8 ch
quebrada
9 ch
quebrados

Look-alike desk: quebrada vs quebrados

A purely visual mix-up. quebrada ([keˈβ̞ɾað̞a]) and quebrados ([keˈβ̞ɾað̞os]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50953, 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]. quebrados is at rank #38,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced [keˈβ̞ɾað̞os].

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 50953, this pair ranks #100,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quebrada vs quebrados

Shared letters: abdeqru. Private to "quebrada": -. Private to "quebrados": os.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quebradaqeubrada · qquebrada · quberada · quebarda · quebbrada · quebraad · quebradda · quebrdaa
  • quebradosqeubrados · qquebrados · quberados · quebardos · quebbrados · quebraddos · quebradoss · quebradso

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "quebrada" and "quebrados" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([keˈβ̞ɾað̞a] versus [keˈβ̞ɾað̞os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "quebrada" or "quebrados" show up more?
"quebrada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,041 in our Spanish list, against #38,912 for "quebrados". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quebrada" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quebrados" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #100,469 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quebrada" and "quebrados" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quebrados 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 #100,469 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