abríanvsabusanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#33,906
“abrían” frequency rank
#27,831
“abusan” frequency rank
61737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abrían abusan
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 presente de indicativo de abusar.

Where the eye mixes abrían and abusan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
abrían
6 ch
abusan

Look-alike desk: abrían vs abusan

A purely visual mix-up. abrían ([aˈβ̞ɾiãn]) and abusan ([aˈβ̞usãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61737, 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]. abusan is at rank #27,831, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞usãn].

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 61737, this pair ranks #54,404 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abrían vs abusan

Shared letters: abn. Private to "abrían": . Private to "abusan": su.

"abrían" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "abusan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abusanabbusan · absuan · abuasn · abusann · abusna · abussan · aubsan · avusan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abrían" and "abusan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈβ̞ɾiãn] versus [aˈβ̞usãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "abrían" or "abusan" show up more?
"abusan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,831 in our Spanish list, against #33,906 for "abrían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "abrían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abusan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,404 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abrían" and "abusan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrían vs abrio". 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 #54,404 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