Which to use
“trabas” is a noun and “tragan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,242
- “trabas” frequency rank
- #43,897
- “tragan” frequency rank
- 59139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trabas | tragan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de traba. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tragar o de tragarse. |
Where the eye mixes trabas and tragan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. trabas and tragan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses trabas with tragan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trabas is [ˈt̪ɾaβ̞as] while tragan is [ˈt̪ɾaɣ̞ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trabas is recorded at frequency rank #15,242, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ɾaβ̞as]. tragan is at rank #43,897, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ɾaɣ̞ãn].
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 59139, this pair ranks #63,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of trabas vs tragan
Shared letters: art. Private to "trabas": bs. Private to "tragan": gn.
"trabas" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "tragan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "trabas" and "tragan" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "trabas" or "tragan"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "trabas" and "tragan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "trabas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tragan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trabas" and "tragan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "traca vs tragan". 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 #63,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.