escribanvsescribíConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,244
“escriban” frequency rank
#5,722
“escribí” frequency rank
23966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escriban escribí
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de escribir o de escribirse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse.

Where the eye mixes escriban and escribí

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. escriban runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against escribí's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
escriban
7 ch
escribí

Why the eye confuses escriban with escribí

A purely visual mix-up. escriban ([esˈkɾiβ̞ãn]) and escribí ([eskɾiˈβ̞i]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escriban is recorded at frequency rank #18,244, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈkɾiβ̞ãn]. escribí is at rank #5,722, tagged as averb, pronounced [eskɾiˈβ̞i].

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 23966, this pair ranks #243,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escriban vs escribí

Shared letters: bceirs. Private to "escriban": an. Private to "escribí": í.

"escriban" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "escribí" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escriban ← ecsriban · esccriban · escirban · escrbian · escriabn · escribann · escribban · escribna

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "escriban" and "escribí" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([esˈkɾiβ̞ãn] versus [eskɾiˈβ̞i]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "escriban" vs "escribí" - which ranks higher?
"escribí" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,722 in our Spanish list, against #18,244 for "escriban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "escriban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escribí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escriban" and "escribí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escriban vs escribís". 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 #243,343 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