nombranvsnombrarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,507
“nombran” frequency rank
#6,570
“nombrar” frequency rank
26077
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nombran nombrar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de nombrar. Dar nombre a una persona, animal o cosa.

Where the eye mixes nombran and nombrar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. nombran and nombrar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
nombran
7 ch
nombrar

Why the eye confuses nombran with nombrar

A purely visual mix-up. nombran ([ˈnõmbɾãn]) and nombrar ([nõmˈbɾaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “nombran” becomes r in “nombrar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nombran is recorded at frequency rank #19,507, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnõmbɾãn]. nombrar is at rank #6,570, tagged as averb, pronounced [nõmˈbɾaɾ].

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 26077, this pair ranks #233,438 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nombran vs nombrar

Shared letters: abmnor. Private to "nombran": -. Private to "nombrar": -.

"nombran" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "nombrar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nombran ← nmobran · nnombran · nobmran · nombarn · nombbran · nombrann · nombrna · nombrran
  • nombrar ← nmobrar · nnombrar · nobmrar · nombarr · nombbrar · nombrarr · nombrra · nombrrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nombran" for "nombrar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnõmbɾãn] versus [nõmˈbɾaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nombran" or "nombrar"?
"nombrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,570 in our Spanish list, against #19,507 for "nombran". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nombran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nombrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #233,438 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nombran" and "nombrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nombran vs nombren". 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 #233,438 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