abrenvsaburrenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,480
“abren” frequency rank
#31,609
“aburren” frequency rank
38089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abren aburren
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de abrir o de abrirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de aburrarse.

Where the eye mixes abren and aburren

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abren runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against aburren's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
abren
7 ch
aburren

Why the eye confuses abren with aburren

A purely visual mix-up. abren ([ˈaβ̞ɾẽn]) and aburren ([aˈβ̞urẽn]) 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 38089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abren is recorded at frequency rank #6,480, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaβ̞ɾẽn]. aburren is at rank #31,609, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞urẽn].

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 38089, this pair ranks #171,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abren vs aburren

Shared letters: abenr. Private to "abren": -. Private to "aburren": u.

"abren" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "aburren" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrenabbren · abern · abrenn · abrne · abrren · arben · avren · baren
  • aburrenabburren · abruren · aburen · aburern · aburrenn · aburrne · aubrren · avurren

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abren" and "aburren" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaβ̞ɾẽn] versus [aˈβ̞urẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "abren" or "aburren" show up more?
"abren" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,480 in our Spanish list, against #31,609 for "aburren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aburren" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #171,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abren" and "aburren" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aburren vs aburrí". 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 #171,885 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