tomarvstomaríaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#440
“tomar” frequency rank
#14,025
“tomaría” frequency rank
14465
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomar tomaría
Definition Coger alguna cosa con la mano. Primera persona del singular (yo) del condicional de tomar o de tomarse.

Where the eye mixes tomar and tomaría

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

5 ch
tomar
7 ch
tomaría

Visual trap between tomar and tomaría

A purely visual mix-up. tomar ([t̪oˈmaɾ]) and tomaría ([t̪omaˈɾia]) 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) - “tomar” sits inside “tomaría”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomar is recorded at frequency rank #440, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmaɾ]. tomaría is at rank #14,025, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪omaˈɾia].

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 14465, this pair ranks #284,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tomar vs tomaría

Shared letters: amort. Private to "tomar": -. Private to "tomaría": í.

"tomar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tomaría" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomarotmar · tmoar · toamr · tomarr · tommar · tomra · ttomar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tomar" for "tomaría" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪oˈmaɾ] versus [t̪omaˈɾia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomar" or "tomaría"?
"tomar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #440 in our Spanish list, against #14,025 for "tomaría". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tomar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tomaría" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #284,006 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomar" and "tomaría" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tiraría vs tomaría". 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 #284,006 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