abríavsabrirlaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,426
“abría” frequency rank
#31,175
“abrirla” frequency rank
49601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abría abrirla
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de abrir o de abrirse. .Verbo en tercera persona del singular del pretérito perfecto simple del indicativo del verbo abrir.Hecho por pere henares

Where the eye mixes abría and abrirla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. abría runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against abrirla's 7 (VCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
abría
7 ch
abrirla

Look-alike desk: abría vs abrirla

A purely visual mix-up. abría ([aˈβ̞ɾia]) and abrirla ([aˈβ̞ɾiɾla]) 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 49601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abría is recorded at frequency rank #18,426, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾia]. abrirla is at rank #31,175, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾiɾla].

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 49601, this pair ranks #107,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abría vs abrirla

Shared letters: abr. Private to "abría": í. Private to "abrirla": il.

"abría" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV  ·  "abrirla" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrirlaabbrirla · abirrla · abrilra · abriral · abrirlla · abrirrla · abrrila · abrrirla

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "abría" for "abrirla" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈβ̞ɾia] versus [aˈβ̞ɾiɾla]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abría" vs "abrirla" - which ranks higher?
"abría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,426 in our Spanish list, against #31,175 for "abrirla". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abría" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abrirla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,896 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abría" and "abrirla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrirla vs Arriola". 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 #107,896 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