extrañarvsextrañosWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,382
“extrañar” frequency rank
#5,512
“extraños” frequency rank
13894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature extrañar extraños
Definition Apartar, privar a alguno del trato y comunicación que se tenía con él. Forma del plural de extraño.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
extrañar
8 ch
extraños

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: extrañar is [ekst̪ɾaˈɲaɾ] while extraños is [eksˈt̪ɾaɲos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

extrañar is recorded at frequency rank #8,382, classified as averb, pronounced [ekst̪ɾaˈɲaɾ]. extraños is at rank #5,512, tagged as anoun, pronounced [eksˈt̪ɾaɲos].

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 13894, this pair ranks #286,155 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of extrañar vs extraños

Shared letters: aertxñ. Private to "extrañar": -. Private to "extraños": os.

"extrañar" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "extraños" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

extrañar#8,382
extraños#5,512

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "extrañar" and "extraños" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "extrañar" is a verb and "extraños" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "extrañar" or "extraños"?
"extraños" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,512 in our Spanish list, against #8,382 for "extrañar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering extrañar vs extraños

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “extrañar”; for a noun, it's “extraños”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “extrañar” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list