descubranvsdescubreTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,995
“descubran” frequency rank
#3,478
“descubre” frequency rank
29473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descubran descubre
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de descubrir o de descubrirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descubrir o de descubrirse.

Where the eye mixes descubran and descubre

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descubran runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against descubre's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
descubran
8 ch
descubre

Why the eye confuses descubran with descubre

A purely visual mix-up. descubran ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾãn]) and descubre ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾe]) 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 29473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descubran is recorded at frequency rank #25,995, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾãn]. descubre is at rank #3,478, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾe].

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 29473, this pair ranks #216,850 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descubran vs descubre

Shared letters: bcdersu. Private to "descubran": an. Private to "descubre": -.

"descubran" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descubre" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descubran ← ddescubran · decsubran · descburan · desccubran · descubarn · descubbran · descubrann · descubrna
  • descubre ← ddescubre · decsubre · descbure · desccubre · descubbre · descuber · descubrre · descurbe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "descubran" and "descubre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾãn] versus [d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "descubran" vs "descubre" - which ranks higher?
"descubre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,478 in our Spanish list, against #25,995 for "descubran". 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 "descubran" and "descubre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descubran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descubre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #216,850 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descubran" and "descubre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descubran vs descubrirán". 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 #216,850 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