abrevsareWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,099
“abre” frequency rank
#6,261
“are” frequency rank
8360
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes abre and are

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

4 ch
abre
3 ch
are

Why the eye confuses abre with are

A purely visual mix-up. abre ([ˈaβ̞ɾe]) and are ([ˈaɾe]) 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 8360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abre is recorded at frequency rank #2,099, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾe]. are is at rank #6,261, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈaɾe].

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 8360, this pair ranks #305,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of abre vs are

Shared letters: aer. Private to "abre": b. Private to "are": -.

"abre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "are" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abreabbre · abrre · arbe · avre · bare

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abre" and "are" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaβ̞ɾe] versus [ˈaɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abre" or "are"?
"abre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,099 in our Spanish list, against #6,261 for "are". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "are" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #305,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abre" and "are" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abed vs are". 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 #305,224 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