ebriavsenfríaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ebria is a adjective, enfría is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#34,074
“ebria” frequency rank
#29,190
“enfría” frequency rank
63264
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ebria enfría
Definition Forma del femenino de ebrio. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de enfriar o de enfriarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ebria and enfría apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ebria
6 ch
enfría

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ebria is [ˈeβ̞ɾja] while enfría is [ẽɱˈfɾia]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63264, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ebria is recorded at frequency rank #34,074, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈeβ̞ɾja]. enfría is at rank #29,190, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽɱˈfɾia].

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 63264, this pair ranks #49,317 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ebria vs enfría

Shared letters: aer. Private to "ebria": bi. Private to "enfría": fní.

"ebria" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV  ·  "enfría" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

ebria#34,074
enfría#29,190

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ebria" and "enfría" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ebria" is an adjective and "enfría" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ebria" or "enfría"?
"enfría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,190 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 ebria vs enfría

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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