robarvsrocaTell them apart

Quick tell: robar is a verb, roca is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“robar” is a verb and “roca” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,080
“robar” frequency rank
#3,444
“roca” frequency rank
6524
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature robar roca
Definition Quitar o tomar para sí lo ajeno usando la fuerza. Acumulación sólida y natural de minerales que constituye una gran parte de la corteza terrestre.

Where the eye mixes robar and roca

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
robar
4 ch
roca

Look-alike desk: robar vs roca

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: robar is [roˈβ̞aɾ] while roca is [ˈroka]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

robar is recorded at frequency rank #3,080, classified as averb, pronounced [roˈβ̞aɾ]. roca is at rank #3,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈroka].

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 6524, this pair ranks #310,501 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of robar vs roca

Shared letters: aor. Private to "robar": b. Private to "roca": c.

"robar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "roca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • robarorbar · rboar · roabr · robarr · robbar · robra · rovar · rrobar
  • rocarcoa · roac · rroca

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "robar" for "roca" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "robar" is a verb and "roca" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "robar" vs "roca" - which ranks higher?
"robar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,080 in our Spanish list, against #3,444 for "roca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "robar" and "roca" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "robar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "roca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,501 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "robar" and "roca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "riba vs roca". 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 #310,501 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