cambianvscambiesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,580
“cambian” frequency rank
#17,063
“cambies” frequency rank
21643
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cambian cambies
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cambiar. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de cambiar.

Where the eye mixes cambian and cambies

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cambian and cambies follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
cambian
7 ch
cambies

Why the eye confuses cambian with cambies

A purely visual mix-up. cambian ([ˈkãmbjãn]) and cambies ([ˈkãmbjes]) 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 21643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cambian is recorded at frequency rank #4,580, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkãmbjãn]. cambies is at rank #17,063, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkãmbjes].

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 21643, this pair ranks #253,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cambian vs cambies

Shared letters: abcim. Private to "cambian": n. Private to "cambies": es.

"cambian" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "cambies" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cambianacmbian · cabmian · cambain · cambbian · cambiann · cambina · camiban · cammbian
  • cambiesacmbies · cabmies · cambbies · cambeis · cambiess · cambise · camibes · cammbies

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cambian" and "cambies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkãmbjãn] versus [ˈkãmbjes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cambian" or "cambies"?
"cambian" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,580 in our Spanish list, against #17,063 for "cambies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cambian" and "cambies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cambian" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cambies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #253,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cambian" and "cambies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caerían vs cambian". 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 #253,986 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