robarvsrodaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#3,080
“robar” frequency rank
#33,831
“roda” frequency rank
36911
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature robar roda
Definition Quitar o tomar para sí lo ajeno usando la fuerza. Parte de la quilla de una embarcación que converge en la proa o la popa rematando y reforzando el casco.

Where the eye mixes robar and roda

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

5 ch
robar
4 ch
roda

Why the eye confuses robar with roda

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: robar is [roˈβ̞aɾ] while roda is [ˈroð̞a]. 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 36911, 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]. roda is at rank #33,831, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈroð̞a].

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 36911, this pair ranks #178,126 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of robar vs roda

Shared letters: aor. Private to "robar": b. Private to "roda": d.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • robarorbar · rboar · roabr · robarr · robbar · robra · rovar · rrobar
  • rodaorda · rdoa · rodda · rroda

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "robar" for "roda" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "robar" is a verb and "roda" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "robar" or "roda" show up more?
"robar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,080 in our Spanish list, against #33,831 for "roda". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "robar" and "roda" 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 "roda" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #178,126 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "robar" and "roda" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "riba vs roda". 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 #178,126 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