apruebanvsapruebeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,840
“aprueban” frequency rank
#15,543
“apruebe” frequency rank
29383
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aprueban apruebe
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aprobar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de aprobar.

Where the eye mixes aprueban and apruebe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. aprueban runs 8 letters (VCCVVCVC) against apruebe's 7 (VCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
aprueban
7 ch
apruebe

Look-alike desk: aprueban vs apruebe

A purely visual mix-up. aprueban ([aˈpɾweβ̞ãn]) and apruebe ([aˈpɾweβ̞e]) 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 29383, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aprueban is recorded at frequency rank #13,840, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈpɾweβ̞ãn]. apruebe is at rank #15,543, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈpɾweβ̞e].

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 29383, this pair ranks #217,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aprueban vs apruebe

Shared letters: abepru. Private to "aprueban": n. Private to "apruebe": -.

"aprueban" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "apruebe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aprueban ← apprueban · apreuban · aprrueban · aprubean · aprueabn · apruebann · apruebban · apruebna
  • apruebe ← appruebe · apreube · aprruebe · aprubee · apruebbe · aprueeb · aprueve · apurebe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aprueban" and "apruebe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpɾweβ̞ãn] versus [aˈpɾweβ̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "aprueban" or "apruebe" show up more?
"aprueban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,840 in our Spanish list, against #15,543 for "apruebe". 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 "aprueban" and "apruebe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aprueban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apruebe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #217,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aprueban" and "apruebe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apreté vs apruebe". 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 #217,280 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