subrayavssubrayadoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#16,709
“subraya” frequency rank
#25,461
“subrayado” frequency rank
42170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subraya subrayado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de subrayar. Participio de subrayar.

Where the eye mixes subraya and subrayado

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

7 ch
subraya
9 ch
subrayado

Look-alike desk: subraya vs subrayado

A purely visual mix-up. subraya ([suˈβ̞ɾaʝa]) and subrayado ([suβ̞ɾaˈʝað̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “subraya” sits inside “subrayado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subraya is recorded at frequency rank #16,709, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈβ̞ɾaʝa]. subrayado is at rank #25,461, tagged as averb, pronounced [suβ̞ɾaˈʝað̞o].

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 42170, this pair ranks #149,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of subraya vs subrayado

Shared letters: abrsuy. Private to "subraya": -. Private to "subrayado": do.

"subraya" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV  ·  "subrayado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subrayasburaya · ssubraya · subarya · subbraya · subraay · subrayya · subrraya · subryaa
  • subrayadosburayado · ssubrayado · subaryado · subbrayado · subraaydo · subrayaddo · subrayaod · subraydao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "subraya" and "subrayado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([suˈβ̞ɾaʝa] versus [suβ̞ɾaˈʝað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "subraya" vs "subrayado" - which ranks higher?
"subraya" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,709 in our Spanish list, against #25,461 for "subrayado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "subraya" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subrayado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #149,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subraya" and "subrayado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subrayado vs subrayan". 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 #149,732 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