Which to use
“open” is an adjective and “operan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,335
- “open” frequency rank
- #9,506
- “operan” frequency rank
- 15841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | open | operan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Abierto. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de operar. |
Where the eye mixes open and operan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between open and operan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: open is /ˈəʊ.pən/ while operan is [oˈpeɾãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
open is recorded at frequency rank #6,335, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈəʊ.pən/. operan is at rank #9,506, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈpeɾãn].
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 15841, this pair ranks #278,561 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of open vs operan
Shared letters: enop. Private to "open": -. Private to "operan": ar.
"open" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "operan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "open" for "operan" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "open" or "operan" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "open" and "operan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "open" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "operan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,561 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "open" and "operan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oían vs open". 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 #278,561 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.