bearvsbebíConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,034
“bear” frequency rank
#46,362
“bebí” frequency rank
70396
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bear bebí
Definition Soportar, aguantar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de beber o de beberse.

Where the eye mixes bear and bebí

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bear
4 ch
bebí

Look-alike desk: bear vs bebí

A purely visual mix-up. bear (/bɛə(ɹ)/) and bebí ([beˈβ̞i]) 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 70396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bear is recorded at frequency rank #24,034, classified as averb, pronounced /bɛə(ɹ)/. bebí is at rank #46,362, tagged as averb, pronounced [beˈβ̞i].

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 70396, this pair ranks #29,815 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bear vs bebí

Shared letters: be. Private to "bear": ar. Private to "bebí": í.

"bear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "bebí" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bearbaer · bbear · bearr · ebar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bear" for "bebí" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/bɛə(ɹ)/ versus [beˈβ̞i]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "bear" vs "bebí" - which ranks higher?
"bear" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,034 in our Spanish list, against #46,362 for "bebí". 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 "bear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bebí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,815 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bear" and "bebí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bebí vs ber". 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 #29,815 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