arivsaseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ari is a noun, ase is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ari” is a noun and “ase” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,154
“ari” frequency rank
#30,766
“ase” frequency rank
48920
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ari ase
Definition (familia Ursidae) Oso. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de asar.

Where the eye mixes ari and ase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
ari
3 ch
ase

Visual trap between ari and ase

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ari is [aˈɾi] while ase is [ˈase]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ari is recorded at frequency rank #18,154, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈɾi]. ase is at rank #30,766, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈase].

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 48920, this pair ranks #111,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ari vs ase

Shared letters: a. Private to "ari": ir. Private to "ase": es.

"ari" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ase" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ari" for "ase" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ari" is a noun and "ase" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ari" or "ase" show up more?
"ari" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,154 in our Spanish list, against #30,766 for "ase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ari" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,767 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ari" and "ase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abed vs ase". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #111,767 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