abríanvsabrieranConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,906
“abrían” frequency rank
#45,097
“abrieran” frequency rank
79003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abrían abrieran
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de abrir o de abrirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo de abrir o de abrirse.

Where the eye mixes abrían and abrieran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
abrían
8 ch
abrieran

Why the eye confuses abrían with abrieran

A purely visual mix-up. abrían ([aˈβ̞ɾiãn]) and abrieran ([aˈβ̞ɾjeɾãn]) 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 79003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abrían is recorded at frequency rank #33,906, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾiãn]. abrieran is at rank #45,097, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ɾjeɾãn].

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 79003, this pair ranks #13,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abrían vs abrieran

Shared letters: abnr. Private to "abrían": í. Private to "abrieran": ei.

"abrían" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "abrieran" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abrieranabbrieran · abireran · abreiran · abriearn · abrierann · abrierna · abrierran · abrirean

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abrían" and "abrieran" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈβ̞ɾiãn] versus [aˈβ̞ɾjeɾãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abrían" vs "abrieran" - which ranks higher?
"abrían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,906 in our Spanish list, against #45,097 for "abrieran". 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 "abrían" and "abrieran" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abrían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abrieran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abrían" and "abrieran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrieran vs aprietan". 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 #13,619 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