tomarvstomaseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#440
“tomar” frequency rank
#48,733
“tomase” frequency rank
49173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomar tomase
Definition Coger alguna cosa con la mano. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo de tomar o de tomarse.

Where the eye mixes tomar and tomase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tomar
6 ch
tomase

Visual trap between tomar and tomase

A purely visual mix-up. tomar ([t̪oˈmaɾ]) and tomase ([t̪oˈmase]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomar is recorded at frequency rank #440, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmaɾ]. tomase is at rank #48,733, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmase].

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 49173, this pair ranks #110,321 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tomar vs tomase

Shared letters: amot. Private to "tomar": r. Private to "tomase": es.

"tomar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tomase" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomarotmar · tmoar · toamr · tomarr · tommar · tomra · ttomar
  • tomaseotmase · tmoase · toamse · tomace · tomaes · tomasse · tommase · tomsae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tomar" for "tomase" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪oˈmaɾ] versus [t̪oˈmase]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tomar" vs "tomase" - which ranks higher?
"tomar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #440 in our Spanish list, against #48,733 for "tomase". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tomar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tomase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,321 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomar" and "tomase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tomad vs tomase". 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 #110,321 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