sobravssufraTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,563
“sobra” frequency rank
#16,462
“sufra” frequency rank
22025
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobra sufra
Definition Porción de algo que excede su cantidad, peso, valor, límite o tamaño convencionales o habituales. Prestación personal.

Where the eye mixes sobra and sufra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sobra
5 ch
sufra

Look-alike desk: sobra vs sufra

A purely visual mix-up. sobra ([ˈsoβ̞ɾa]) and sufra ([ˈsufɾa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sobra is recorded at frequency rank #5,563, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsoβ̞ɾa]. sufra is at rank #16,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsufɾa].

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 22025, this pair ranks #252,282 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sobra vs sufra

Shared letters: ars. Private to "sobra": bo. Private to "sufra": fu.

"sobra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sufra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobraosbra · sbora · sobar · sobbra · sobrra · sorba · sovra · ssobra
  • sufrasfura · ssufra · sufar · suffra · sufrra · surfa · usfra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sobra" for "sufra" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsoβ̞ɾa] versus [ˈsufɾa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sobra" vs "sufra" - which ranks higher?
"sobra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,563 in our Spanish list, against #16,462 for "sufra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sobra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sufra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #252,282 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobra" and "sufra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sufra vs Susa". 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 #252,282 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