nombrenvsnombresWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#46,083
“nombren” frequency rank
#1,221
“nombres” frequency rank
47304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nombren nombres
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de nombrar. Forma del plural de nombre.

Where the eye mixes nombren and nombres

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

7 ch
nombren
7 ch
nombres

Why the eye confuses nombren with nombres

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nombren is [ˈnõmbɾẽn] while nombres is [ˈnõmbɾes]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “nombren” becomes s in “nombres”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nombren is recorded at frequency rank #46,083, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnõmbɾẽn]. nombres is at rank #1,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈnõmbɾes].

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 47304, this pair ranks #120,807 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nombren vs nombres

Shared letters: bemnor. Private to "nombren": -. Private to "nombres": s.

"nombren" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "nombres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nombren ← nmobren · nnombren · nobmren · nombbren · nombern · nombrenn · nombrne · nombrren
  • nombres ← nmobres · nnombres · nobmres · nombbres · nombers · nombress · nombrres · nombrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nombren" and "nombres" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nombren" is a verb and "nombres" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "nombren" or "nombres" show up more?
"nombres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,221 in our Spanish list, against #46,083 for "nombren". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "nombren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nombres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #120,807 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nombren" and "nombres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nombren vs nombro". 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 #120,807 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