Which to use
“abra” is a noun and “abrace” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,943
- “abra” frequency rank
- #49,372
- “abrace” frequency rank
- 57315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abra | abrace |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Entrada de mar en tierra, de menor proporción que una bahía, que ofrece resguardo para que los buques puedan fondear en ella. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de abrazar o de abrazarse. |
Where the eye mixes abra and abrace
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between abra and abrace
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abra is [ˈaβ̞ɾa] while abrace is [aˈβ̞ɾase]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “abra” sits inside “abrace”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abra is recorded at frequency rank #7,943, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾa]. abrace is at rank #49,372, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾase].
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 57315, this pair ranks #70,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of abra vs abrace
Shared letters: abr. Private to "abra": -. Private to "abrace": ce.
"abra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "abrace" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abra" for "abrace" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "abra" or "abrace" show up more?
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 "abra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "abrace" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abra" and "abrace" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abate vs abrace". 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 #70,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.