entrañavsextrañanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: entraña is a noun, extrañan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“entraña” is a noun and “extrañan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,641
“entraña” frequency rank
#36,041
“extrañan” frequency rank
68682
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature entraña extrañan
Definition Cada uno de los órganos contenidos en las principales cavidades del cuerpo humano y de los animales. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de extrañar o de extrañarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set entraña and extrañan apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
entraña
8 ch
extrañan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: entraña is [ẽn̪ˈt̪ɾaɲa] while extrañan is [eksˈt̪ɾaɲãn]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

entraña is recorded at frequency rank #32,641, classified as anoun, pronounced [ẽn̪ˈt̪ɾaɲa]. extrañan is at rank #36,041, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksˈt̪ɾaɲãn].

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 68682, this pair ranks #33,852 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of entraña vs extrañan

Shared letters: aenrtñ. Private to "entraña": -. Private to "extrañan": x.

"entraña" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "extrañan" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

entraña#32,641
extrañan#36,041

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "entraña" and "extrañan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "entraña" is a noun and "extrañan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "entraña" or "extrañan"?
"entraña" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,641 in our Spanish list, against #36,041 for "extrañan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering entraña vs extrañan

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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