duermavsduermeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,705
“duerma” frequency rank
#5,824
“duerme” frequency rank
25529
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duerma duerme
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dormir o de dormirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dormir o de dormirse.

Where the eye mixes duerma and duerme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. duerma and duerme follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
duerma
6 ch
duerme

Look-alike desk: duerma vs duerme

A purely visual mix-up. duerma ([ˈd̪weɾma]) and duerme ([ˈd̪weɾme]) 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 - a in “duerma” becomes e in “duerme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duerma is recorded at frequency rank #19,705, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪weɾma]. duerme is at rank #5,824, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪weɾme].

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 25529, this pair ranks #236,029 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of duerma vs duerme

Shared letters: demru. Private to "duerma": a. Private to "duerme": -.

"duerma" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "duerme" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duerma ← dduerma · deurma · duemra · dueram · duermma · duerrma · durema · uderma
  • duerme ← dduerme · deurme · duemre · duerem · duermme · duerrme · dureme · uderme

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duerma" and "duerme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪weɾma] versus [ˈd̪weɾme]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "duerma" or "duerme"?
"duerme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,824 in our Spanish list, against #19,705 for "duerma". 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 "duerma" and "duerme" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "duerma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duerme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #236,029 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "duerma" and "duerme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duerma vs duma". 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 #236,029 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