descubresvsdescubrirWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#30,025
“descubres” frequency rank
#2,652
“descubrir” frequency rank
32677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descubres descubrir
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de descubrir o de descubrirse. Retirar una cubierta o tapa.

Where the eye mixes descubres and descubrir

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

9 ch
descubres
9 ch
descubrir

Visual trap between descubres and descubrir

A purely visual mix-up. descubres ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾes]) and descubrir ([d̪eskuˈβ̞ɾiɾ]) 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 32677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descubres is recorded at frequency rank #30,025, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾes]. descubrir is at rank #2,652, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eskuˈβ̞ɾiɾ].

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 32677, this pair ranks #200,761 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descubres vs descubrir

Shared letters: bcdersu. Private to "descubres": -. Private to "descubrir": i.

"descubres" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descubrir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descubres ← ddescubres · decsubres · descbures · desccubres · descubbres · descubers · descubress · descubrres
  • descubrir ← ddescubrir · decsubrir · descburir · desccubrir · descubbrir · descubirr · descubrirr · descubrri

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descubres" and "descubrir" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkuβ̞ɾes] versus [d̪eskuˈβ̞ɾiɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "descubres" or "descubrir"?
"descubrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,652 in our Spanish list, against #30,025 for "descubres". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "descubres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descubrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,761 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descubres" and "descubrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descubras vs descubres". 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 #200,761 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