Which to use
“escribe” and “escriben” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,984
- “escribe” frequency rank
- #6,661
- “escriben” frequency rank
- 8645
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | escribe | escriben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse. |
Where the eye mixes escribe and escriben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. escribe runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against escriben's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: escribe vs escriben
A purely visual mix-up. escribe ([esˈkɾiβ̞e]) and escriben ([esˈkɾiβ̞ẽn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “escribe” sits inside “escriben”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
escribe is recorded at frequency rank #1,984, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈkɾiβ̞e]. escriben is at rank #6,661, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈkɾiβ̞ẽn].
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 8645, this pair ranks #304,397 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of escribe vs escriben
Shared letters: bceirs. Private to "escribe": -. Private to "escriben": n.
"escribe" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "escriben" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "escribe" and "escriben" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "escribe" or "escriben"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "escribe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "escriben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,397 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "escribe" and "escriben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escriben 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 #304,397 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.