barrevsBarreraWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: barre is a verb, Barrera is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“barre” is a verb and “Barrera” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,779
“barre” frequency rank
#5,801
“Barrera” frequency rank
36580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barre Barrera
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de barrar. Apellido

Where the eye mixes barre and Barrera

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

5 ch
barre
7 ch
Barrera

Look-alike desk: barre vs Barrera

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: barre is [ˈbare] while Barrera is [baˈreɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “barre” sits inside “Barrera”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barre is recorded at frequency rank #30,779, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbare]. Barrera is at rank #5,801, tagged as aname, pronounced [baˈreɾa].

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 36580, this pair ranks #179,882 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of barre vs Barrera

Shared letters: aber. Private to "barre": -. Private to "Barrera": -.

"barre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Barrera" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barrebbarre · brare · varre
  • Barreraabrrera · barera · barerra · barrear · barrerra · barrrea · bbarrera · brarera

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barre" and "Barrera" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "barre" is a verb and "Barrera" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "barre" vs "Barrera" - which ranks higher?
"Barrera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,801 in our Spanish list, against #30,779 for "barre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "barre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Barrera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #179,882 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "barre" and "Barrera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "barre vs brie". 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 #179,882 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