compranvscomprarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#9,426
“compran” frequency rank
#819
“comprar” frequency rank
10245
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compran comprar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de comprar. Adquirir algo mediante el intercambio de su valor en dinero.

Where the eye mixes compran and comprar

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

7 ch
compran
7 ch
comprar

Why the eye confuses compran with comprar

A purely visual mix-up. compran ([ˈkõmpɾãn]) and comprar ([kõmˈpɾaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “compran” becomes r in “comprar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compran is recorded at frequency rank #9,426, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkõmpɾãn]. comprar is at rank #819, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõmˈpɾaɾ].

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 10245, this pair ranks #299,320 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compran vs comprar

Shared letters: acmopr. Private to "compran": n. Private to "comprar": -.

"compran" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "comprar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compranccompran · cmopran · commpran · comparn · comppran · comprann · comprna · comprran
  • comprarccomprar · cmoprar · commprar · comparr · compprar · comprarr · comprra · comprrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "compran" for "comprar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkõmpɾãn] versus [kõmˈpɾaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "compran" vs "comprar" - which ranks higher?
"comprar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #819 in our Spanish list, against #9,426 for "compran". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "compran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "comprar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #299,320 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compran" and "comprar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comerán vs compran". 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 #299,320 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