abranvsabrirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,511
“abran” frequency rank
#1,464
“abrir” frequency rank
12975
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abran abrir
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de abrir o de abrirse. Remover la tapa o la cubierta de algo, haciéndolo visible.

Where the eye mixes abran and abrir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
abran
5 ch
abrir

Look-alike desk: abran vs abrir

A purely visual mix-up. abran ([ˈaβ̞ɾãn]) and abrir ([aˈβ̞ɾiɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abran is recorded at frequency rank #11,511, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾãn]. abrir is at rank #1,464, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾiɾ].

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 12975, this pair ranks #289,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abran vs abrir

Shared letters: abr. Private to "abran": n. Private to "abrir": i.

"abran" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "abrir" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abranabarn · abbran · abrann · abrna · abrran · arban · avran · baran
  • abrirabbrir · abirr · abrirr · abrri · abrrir · arbir · avrir · barir

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abran" for "abrir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaβ̞ɾãn] versus [aˈβ̞ɾiɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abran" vs "abrir" - which ranks higher?
"abrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,464 in our Spanish list, against #11,511 for "abran". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "abran" and "abrir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,602 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abran" and "abrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrace vs abran". 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 #289,602 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