sabanavssarnaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,702
“sabana” frequency rank
#35,746
“sarna” frequency rank
50448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sabana sarna
Definition Llanura extensa cuya vegetación predominante son las hierbas, salpicada por algún árbol, arbusto o matorral individual o en pequeños grupos. Enfermedad de la piel causada por el arador (Sarcoptes scabiei), un ácaro parásito, que penetra y progresa bajo la piel produciendo hinchazones y comezón.

Where the eye mixes sabana and sarna

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sabana runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against sarna's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
sabana
5 ch
sarna

Why the eye confuses sabana with sarna

A purely visual mix-up. sabana ([saˈβ̞ana]) and sarna ([ˈsaɾna]) 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 50448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sabana is recorded at frequency rank #14,702, classified as anoun, pronounced [saˈβ̞ana]. sarna is at rank #35,746, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsaɾna].

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 50448, this pair ranks #103,147 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sabana vs sarna

Shared letters: ans. Private to "sabana": b. Private to "sarna": r.

"sabana" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "sarna" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sabana ← asbana · saabna · sabaan · sabanna · sabbana · sabnaa · savana · sbaana
  • sarna ← asrna · saran · sarnna · sarrna · srana · ssarna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sabana" for "sarna" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([saˈβ̞ana] versus [ˈsaɾna]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sabana" vs "sarna" - which ranks higher?
"sabana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,702 in our Spanish list, against #35,746 for "sarna". 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 "sabana" and "sarna" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sabana" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sarna" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,147 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sabana" and "sarna" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sarna vs Syria". 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 #103,147 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