ÉbolavsebriaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Ébola is a name, ebria is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ébola” is a name and “ebria” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,519
“Ébola” frequency rank
#34,074
“ebria” frequency rank
49593
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ébola ebria
Definition (Ebolavirus) Virus causante de una enfermedad infecciosa, caracterizada por fiebre hemorrágica, que es altamente contagiosa y muy severa, afectatando a todo tipo de primates, incluidos los seres humanos y a otros mamíferos. Forma del femenino de ebrio.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
Ébola
5 ch
ebria

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ébola is [ˈeβ̞ola] while ebria is [ˈeβ̞ɾja]. 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 (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ébola is recorded at frequency rank #15,519, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ola]. ebria is at rank #34,074, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ɾja].

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 49593, this pair ranks #107,934 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ébola vs ebria

Shared letters: ab. Private to "Ébola": loé. Private to "ebria": eir.

"Ébola" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ebria" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ebriaberia · ebbria · ebira · ebrai · ebrria · erbia · evria

Frequency comparison

Ébola#15,519
ebria#34,074

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Ébola" and "ebria" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ébola" is a name and "ebria" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Ébola" or "ebria"?
"Ébola" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,519 in our Spanish list, against #34,074 for "ebria". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Ébola vs ebria

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Ébola”; for an adjective, it's “ebria”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Ébola” 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