escribevsescribesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,984
“escribe” frequency rank
#11,043
“escribes” frequency rank
13027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escribe escribes
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse.

Where the eye mixes escribe and escribes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
escribe
8 ch
escribes

Visual trap between escribe and escribes

A purely visual mix-up. escribe ([esˈkɾiβ̞e]) and escribes ([esˈkɾiβ̞es]) 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 “escribes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13027, 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]. escribes is at rank #11,043, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈkɾiβ̞es].

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 13027, this pair ranks #289,411 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of escribe vs escribes

Shared letters: bceirs. Private to "escribe": -. Private to "escribes": -.

"escribe" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "escribes" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escribeecsribe · esccribe · escirbe · escrbie · escribbe · escrieb · escrive · escrribe
  • escribesecsribes · esccribes · escirbes · escrbies · escribbes · escribess · escribse · escriebs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "escribe" and "escribes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([esˈkɾiβ̞e] versus [esˈkɾiβ̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "escribe" or "escribes"?
"escribe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,984 in our Spanish list, against #11,043 for "escribes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "escribes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,411 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escribe" and "escribes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escribes 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 #289,411 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