beanvsbebasTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#32,520
“bean” frequency rank
#43,420
“bebas” frequency rank
75940
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bean bebas
Definition Mujer. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de beber o de beberse.

Where the eye mixes bean and bebas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bean runs 4 letters (CVVC) against bebas's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
bean
5 ch
bebas

Visual trap between bean and bebas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bean is [b̊ɛn] while bebas is [ˈbeβ̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75940, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bean is recorded at frequency rank #32,520, classified as anoun, pronounced [b̊ɛn]. bebas is at rank #43,420, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbeβ̞as].

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 75940, this pair ranks #18,613 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bean vs bebas

Shared letters: abe. Private to "bean": n. Private to "bebas": s.

"bean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "bebas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bean ← baen · bbean · beann · eban
  • bebas ← bbeas · bbebas · beabs · bebass · bebbas · bebsa · ebbas · vevas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bean" and "bebas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bean" is a noun and "bebas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "bean" or "bebas" show up more?
"bean" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,520 in our Spanish list, against #43,420 for "bebas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bebas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,613 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bean" and "bebas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "basas vs bebas". 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 #18,613 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