sonríavssufríaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,080
“sonría” frequency rank
#15,499
“sufría” frequency rank
56579
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sonría sufría
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de sonreír. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sufrir.

Where the eye mixes sonría and sufría

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sonría and sufría follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
sonría
6 ch
sufría

Look-alike desk: sonría vs sufría

A purely visual mix-up. sonría ([sõnˈria]) and sufría ([suˈfɾia]) 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 56579, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sonría is recorded at frequency rank #41,080, classified as averb, pronounced [sõnˈria]. sufría is at rank #15,499, tagged as averb, pronounced [suˈfɾia].

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 56579, this pair ranks #74,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sonría vs sufría

Shared letters: arsí. Private to "sonría": no. Private to "sufría": fu.

"sonría" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "sufría" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sonría" and "sufría" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([sõnˈria] versus [suˈfɾia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sonría" vs "sufría" - which ranks higher?
"sufría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,499 in our Spanish list, against #41,080 for "sonría". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "sonría" and "sufría" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sonría" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sufría" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,030 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sonría" and "sufría" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sonría vs Syria". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #74,030 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