descubrevsdescubríWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,478
“descubre” frequency rank
#8,102
“descubrí” frequency rank
11580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descubre descubrí
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descubrir o de descubrirse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de descubrir o de descubrirse.

Where the eye mixes descubre and descubrí

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descubre and descubrí follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
descubre
8 ch
descubrí

Visual trap between descubre and descubrí

A purely visual mix-up. descubre ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾe]) and descubrí ([d̪eskuˈβ̞ɾi]) 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 - e in “descubre” becomes í in “descubrí”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descubre is recorded at frequency rank #3,478, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾe]. descubrí is at rank #8,102, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eskuˈβ̞ɾi].

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 11580, this pair ranks #294,603 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of descubre vs descubrí

Shared letters: bcdersu. Private to "descubre": -. Private to "descubrí": í.

"descubre" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "descubrí" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descubre ← ddescubre · decsubre · descbure · desccubre · descubbre · descuber · descubrre · descurbe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descubre" and "descubrí" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾe] versus [d̪eskuˈβ̞ɾi]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "descubre" or "descubrí"?
"descubre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,478 in our Spanish list, against #8,102 for "descubrí". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descubre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descubrí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #294,603 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descubre" and "descubrí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descubras vs descubrí". 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 #294,603 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