SabravssuraWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Sabra is a name, sura is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Sabra” is a name and “sura” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,331
“Sabra” frequency rank
#44,474
“sura” frequency rank
78805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sabra sura
Definition Ciudad de Palestina o Israel. Cada uno de los 114 capítulos en que se divide el Corán, a su vez divididos en ayas o versículos.

Where the eye mixes Sabra and sura

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Sabra runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against sura's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Sabra
4 ch
sura

Visual trap between Sabra and sura

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sabra is [ˈsaβ̞ɾa] while sura is [ˈsuɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sabra is recorded at frequency rank #34,331, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈsaβ̞ɾa]. sura is at rank #44,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsuɾa].

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 78805, this pair ranks #13,916 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Sabra vs sura

Shared letters: ars. Private to "Sabra": b. Private to "sura": u.

"Sabra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sura" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sabra ← asbra · sabar · sabbra · sabrra · sarba · savra · sbara · ssabra
  • sura ← srua · ssura · surra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Sabra" for "sura" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Sabra" is a name and "sura" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Sabra" vs "sura" - which ranks higher?
"Sabra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,331 in our Spanish list, against #44,474 for "sura". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Sabra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sura" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #13,916 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sabra" and "sura" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sura 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 #13,916 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