cambiar
[kãmˈbjaɾ]
The verdict
“cambiar” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #668 in Spanish word frequency and used as a verb.
- #668
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sustituir una cosa por otra. Dejar un estado, cosa o situación para tomar otra.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cambiar |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [kãmˈbjaɾ] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #668 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cambiar” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for cambiar is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [kãmˈbjaɾ]. Corpus data places it at rank #668 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for cambiar, with forms such as "acmbiar", "cabmiar", and "cambair". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cambio", "cumbia", "cambié", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is cambiar, spelled C-A-M-B-I-A-R.
Definition
- 1Sustituir una cosa por otra. Dejar un estado, cosa o situación para tomar otra.
- 2Modificar o alterar el estado, ser o apariencia de algo o de alguien.
- 3Entregar y/o recibir algo por otra cosa que se estima de un valor comparable o análogo.
- 4Dirigir, entre dos o más seres, gestos, ideas, información, afecto, etc. de modo recíproco o mutuo.
- 5Llevar o trasladar de un lugar a otro.
- 6Quitar una prenda de ropa y poner otra.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: acmbiar,cabmiar,cambair,cambbiar,cambiarr,cambira,camibar,cammbiar,camviar,ccambiar,cmabiar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cambiar - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "cambiar"?
What does "cambiar" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cambiar"?
How do you pronounce "cambiar"?
What language does "cambiar" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cambiar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-A-M-B-I-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [kãmˈbjaɾ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cambio” - see the side-by-side comparison. cambiar vs cambio
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.