influirvsinfluyeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,306
“influir” frequency rank
#11,068
“influye” frequency rank
20374
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature influir influye
Definition Alterar o cambiar la forma de pensar o actuar de una persona o cosa. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de influir.

Where the eye mixes influir and influye

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. influir (VCCCVVC) and influye (VCCCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
influir
7 ch
influye

Why the eye confuses influir with influye

A purely visual mix-up. influir ([ĩɱˈflwiɾ]) and influye ([ĩɱˈfluʝe]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20374, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

influir is recorded at frequency rank #9,306, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩɱˈflwiɾ]. influye is at rank #11,068, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩɱˈfluʝe].

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 20374, this pair ranks #259,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of influir vs influye

Shared letters: filnu. Private to "influir": r. Private to "influye": ey.

"influir" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVC  ·  "influye" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • influir ← ifnluir · inffluir · infliur · inflluir · influirr · influri · infulir · inlfuir
  • influye ← ifnluye · inffluye · inflluye · influey · influyye · inflyue · infulye · inlfuye

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "influir" for "influye" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩɱˈflwiɾ] versus [ĩɱˈfluʝe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "influir" vs "influye" - which ranks higher?
"influir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,306 in our Spanish list, against #11,068 for "influye". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "influir" and "influye" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "influir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "influye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #259,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "influir" and "influye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "influir vs intuir". 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 #259,618 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