abrasvsabreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,075
“abras” frequency rank
#2,099
“abre” frequency rank
29174
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abras abre
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de abrir o de abrirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de abrir o de abrirse.

Where the eye mixes abras and abre

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

5 ch
abras
4 ch
abre

Visual trap between abras and abre

A purely visual mix-up. abras ([ˈaβ̞ɾas]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abras is recorded at frequency rank #27,075, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾas]. 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 29174, this pair ranks #218,329 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abras vs abre

Shared letters: abr. Private to "abras": s. Private to "abre": e.

"abras" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "abre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrasabars · abbras · abrass · abrras · abrsa · arbas
  • abreabbre · abrre · arbe · avre · bare

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abras" and "abre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaβ̞ɾas] versus [ˈaβ̞ɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abras" vs "abre" - which ranks higher?
"abre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,099 in our Spanish list, against #27,075 for "abras". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abras" 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 #218,329 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abras" and "abre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrace vs abras". 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 #218,329 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