sobrasvssobrinasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,982
“sobras” frequency rank
#42,155
“sobrinas” frequency rank
61137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sobras sobrinas
Definition Parte que queda de algo, especialmente comida, después de usarlo o consumirlo. Forma del plural de sobrina.

Where the eye mixes sobras and sobrinas

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

6 ch
sobras
8 ch
sobrinas

Why the eye confuses sobras with sobrinas

A purely visual mix-up. sobras ([ˈsoβ̞ɾas]) and sobrinas ([soˈβ̞ɾinas]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sobras is recorded at frequency rank #18,982, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsoβ̞ɾas]. sobrinas is at rank #42,155, tagged as anoun, pronounced [soˈβ̞ɾinas].

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 61137, this pair ranks #56,511 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sobras vs sobrinas

Shared letters: abors. Private to "sobras": -. Private to "sobrinas": in.

"sobras" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "sobrinas" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sobras ← osbras · sboras · sobars · sobbras · sobrass · sobrras · sobrsa · sorbas
  • sobrinas ← osbrinas · sborinas · sobbrinas · sobirnas · sobrians · sobrinass · sobrinnas · sobrinsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sobras" and "sobrinas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsoβ̞ɾas] versus [soˈβ̞ɾinas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sobras" or "sobrinas" show up more?
"sobras" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,982 in our Spanish list, against #42,155 for "sobrinas". 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 "sobras" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sobrinas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,511 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sobras" and "sobrinas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sobrinas vs sobrios". 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 #56,511 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