cerrabanvscerraránTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,934
“cerraban” frequency rank
#35,935
“cerrarán” frequency rank
70869
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cerraban cerrarán
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cerrar o de cerrarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de cerrar o de cerrarse.

Where the eye mixes cerraban and cerrarán

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
cerraban
8 ch
cerrarán

Look-alike desk: cerraban vs cerrarán

A purely visual mix-up. cerraban ([seˈraβ̞ãn]) and cerrarán ([seraˈɾãn]) 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 70869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cerraban is recorded at frequency rank #34,934, classified as averb, pronounced [seˈraβ̞ãn]. cerrarán is at rank #35,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [seraˈɾãn].

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 70869, this pair ranks #28,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cerraban vs cerrarán

Shared letters: acenr. Private to "cerraban": b. Private to "cerrarán": á.

"cerraban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "cerrarán" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cerrabanccerraban · ceraban · cerarban · cerraabn · cerrabann · cerrabban · cerrabna · cerravan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cerraban" for "cerrarán" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([seˈraβ̞ãn] versus [seraˈɾãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cerraban" vs "cerrarán" - which ranks higher?
"cerraban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,934 in our Spanish list, against #35,935 for "cerrarán". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cerraban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cerrarán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,742 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cerraban" and "cerrarán" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerraban vs creaban". 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 #28,742 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