quebrarvsquiebranTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,364
“quebrar” frequency rank
#45,542
“quiebran” frequency rank
63906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quebrar quiebran
Definition Romper una cosa. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de quebrar o de quebrarse.

Where the eye mixes quebrar and quiebran

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. quebrar runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against quiebran's 8 (CVVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
quebrar
8 ch
quiebran

Look-alike desk: quebrar vs quiebran

A purely visual mix-up. quebrar ([keˈβ̞ɾaɾ]) and quiebran ([ˈkjeβ̞ɾãn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quebrar is recorded at frequency rank #18,364, classified as averb, pronounced [keˈβ̞ɾaɾ]. quiebran is at rank #45,542, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkjeβ̞ɾãn].

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 63906, this pair ranks #47,206 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of quebrar vs quiebran

Shared letters: abeqru. Private to "quebrar": -. Private to "quiebran": in.

"quebrar" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "quiebran" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quebrar ← qeubrar · qquebrar · quberar · quebarr · quebbrar · quebrarr · quebrra · quebrrar
  • quiebran ← qiuebran · qquiebran · queibran · quiberan · quiebarn · quiebbran · quiebrann · quiebrna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "quebrar" for "quiebran" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([keˈβ̞ɾaɾ] versus [ˈkjeβ̞ɾãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quebrar" vs "quiebran" - which ranks higher?
"quebrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,364 in our Spanish list, against #45,542 for "quiebran". 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 "quebrar" and "quiebran" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quebrar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quiebran" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,206 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quebrar" and "quiebran" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quiebran vs quiebras". 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 #47,206 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