cobrenvscofreTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#28,286
“cobren” frequency rank
#22,610
“cofre” frequency rank
50896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobren cofre
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de cobrar. Caja para guardar objetos de valor, construída en materiales resistentes y con un seguro o cerradura en la tapa. Por extensión otros contenedores similares.

Where the eye mixes cobren and cofre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cobren runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against cofre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cobren
5 ch
cofre

Look-alike desk: cobren vs cofre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cobren is [ˈkoβ̞ɾẽn] while cofre is [ˈkofɾe]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cobren is recorded at frequency rank #28,286, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkoβ̞ɾẽn]. cofre is at rank #22,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkofɾe].

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 50896, this pair ranks #100,752 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cobren vs cofre

Shared letters: ceor. Private to "cobren": bn. Private to "cofre": f.

"cobren" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "cofre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobren ← cboren · ccobren · cobbren · cobern · cobrenn · cobrne · cobrren · corben
  • cofre ← ccofre · cfore · cofer · coffre · cofrre · corfe · ocfre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cobren" and "cofre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cobren" is a verb and "cofre" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cobren" or "cofre" show up more?
"cofre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,610 in our Spanish list, against #28,286 for "cobren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cobren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cofre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #100,752 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobren" and "cofre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "catre vs cofre". 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 #100,752 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