abracevsabreWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,372
“abrace” frequency rank
#2,099
“abre” frequency rank
51471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abrace abre
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de abrazar o de abrazarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de abrir o de abrirse.

Where the eye mixes abrace and abre

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

6 ch
abrace
4 ch
abre

Why the eye confuses abrace with abre

A purely visual mix-up. abrace ([aˈβ̞ɾase]) and abre ([ˈaβ̞ɾe]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abrace is recorded at frequency rank #49,372, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾase]. abre is at rank #2,099, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾe].

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 51471, this pair ranks #97,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abrace vs abre

Shared letters: aber. Private to "abrace": c. Private to "abre": -.

"abrace" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "abre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abraceabarce · abbrace · abracce · abraec · abrase · abrcae · abrrace · arbace
  • abreabbre · abrre · arbe · avre · bare

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abrace" and "abre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈβ̞ɾase] versus [ˈaβ̞ɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abrace" or "abre"?
"abre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,099 in our Spanish list, against #49,372 for "abrace". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abrace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #97,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abrace" and "abre" 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 #97,721 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