ébanovsebrioWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ébano is a noun, ebrio is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ébano” is a noun and “ebrio” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,219
“ébano” frequency rank
#17,415
“ebrio” frequency rank
59634
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ébano ebrio
Definition (Diospyros ebenum) árbol de hasta 25 m. de altura, perteneciente a la familia de las ebenáceas, originario de India y de Sri Lanka, caracterizado por un tronco de madera muy maciza, pesada, lisa, blanquecina hacia la corteza y muy negra por el centro. Que se encuentra bajo los efectos del alcohol.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ébano and ebrio apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ébano
5 ch
ebrio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ébano is [ˈeβ̞ano] while ebrio is [ˈeβ̞ɾjo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ébano is recorded at frequency rank #42,219, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ano]. ebrio is at rank #17,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ɾjo].

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 59634, this pair ranks #61,903 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ébano vs ebrio

Shared letters: bo. Private to "ébano": ané. Private to "ebrio": eir.

"ébano" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ebrio" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ebrioberio · ebbrio · ebiro · ebroi · ebrrio · erbio · evrio

Frequency comparison

ébano#42,219
ebrio#17,415

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ébano" and "ebrio" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ébano" is a noun and "ebrio" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ébano" or "ebrio"?
"ebrio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,415 in our Spanish list, against #42,219 for "ébano". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ébano vs ebrio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ébano”; for an adjective, it's “ebrio”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ébano” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list