bebervsbebíConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,984
“beber” frequency rank
#46,362
“bebí” frequency rank
50346
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beber bebí
Definition Ingerir líquidos. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de beber o de beberse.

Where the eye mixes beber and bebí

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
beber
4 ch
bebí

Why the eye confuses beber with bebí

A purely visual mix-up. beber ([beˈβ̞eɾ]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50346, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beber is recorded at frequency rank #3,984, classified as averb, pronounced [beˈβ̞eɾ]. 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 50346, this pair ranks #103,700 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of beber vs bebí

Shared letters: be. Private to "beber": r. Private to "bebí": í.

"beber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bebí" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • beberbbeber · bbeer · bebber · beberr · bebre · beebr · ebber · vever

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "beber" for "bebí" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([beˈβ̞eɾ] versus [beˈβ̞i]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "beber" or "bebí" show up more?
"beber" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,984 in our Spanish list, against #46,362 for "bebí". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "beber" 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 #103,700 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "beber" 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 #103,700 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