rascavsrascarWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#33,805
“rasca” frequency rank
#43,216
“rascar” frequency rank
77021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rasca rascar
Definition Dicho de una cosa, de muy mala calidad. Refregar o frotar fuertemente la piel con una cosa aguda o áspera, y por lo regular con las uñas con el fin de mitigar el prurito o picazón.

Where the eye mixes rasca and rascar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
rasca
6 ch
rascar

Why the eye confuses rasca with rascar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rasca is [ˈraska] while rascar is [rasˈkaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “rasca” sits inside “rascar”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rasca is recorded at frequency rank #33,805, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈraska]. rascar is at rank #43,216, tagged as averb, pronounced [rasˈkaɾ].

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 77021, this pair ranks #16,726 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of rasca vs rascar

Shared letters: acrs. Private to "rasca": -. Private to "rascar": -.

"rasca" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "rascar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rascaarsca · racsa · rasac · rascca · rassca · rrasca · rsaca
  • rascararscar · racsar · rasacr · rascarr · rasccar · rascra · rasscar · rrascar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "rasca" and "rascar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "rasca" is an adjective and "rascar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "rasca" or "rascar"?
"rasca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,805 in our Spanish list, against #43,216 for "rascar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "rasca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rascar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,726 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "rasca" and "rascar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rascar vs rasta". 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 #16,726 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