siembravssombraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,730
“siembra” frequency rank
#3,216
“sombra” frequency rank
12946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature siembra sombra
Definition Acción o efecto de sembrar. Ausencia de luz.

Where the eye mixes siembra and sombra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
siembra
6 ch
sombra

Visual trap between siembra and sombra

A purely visual mix-up. siembra ([ˈsjẽmbɾa]) and sombra ([ˈsõmbɾa]) 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 12946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

siembra is recorded at frequency rank #9,730, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsjẽmbɾa]. sombra is at rank #3,216, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsõmbɾa].

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 12946, this pair ranks #289,700 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of siembra vs sombra

Shared letters: abmrs. Private to "siembra": ei. Private to "sombra": o.

"siembra" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV  ·  "sombra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • siembraciembra · isembra · seimbra · siebmra · siembar · siembbra · siembrra · siemmbra
  • sombraosmbra · smobra · sobmra · sombar · sombbra · sombrra · sommbra · somrba

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "siembra" and "sombra" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsjẽmbɾa] versus [ˈsõmbɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "siembra" or "sombra" show up more?
"sombra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,216 in our Spanish list, against #9,730 for "siembra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "siembra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sombra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,700 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "siembra" and "sombra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "siembra vs siembras". 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 #289,700 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