subanvssubirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,061
“suban” frequency rank
#1,703
“subir” frequency rank
13764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature suban subir
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de subir o de subirse. Pasar de un sitio o lugar a otro superior o elevado.

Where the eye mixes suban and subir

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

5 ch
suban
5 ch
subir

Look-alike desk: suban vs subir

A purely visual mix-up. suban ([ˈsuβ̞ãn]) and subir ([suˈβ̞iɾ]) 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 13764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

suban is recorded at frequency rank #12,061, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsuβ̞ãn]. subir is at rank #1,703, tagged as averb, pronounced [suˈβ̞iɾ].

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 13764, this pair ranks #286,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of suban vs subir

Shared letters: bsu. Private to "suban": an. Private to "subir": ir.

"suban" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "subir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subansbuan · ssuban · suabn · subann · subban · subna · suvan · usban
  • subirsbuir · ssubir · subbir · subirr · subri · suibr · suvir · usbir

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "suban" for "subir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsuβ̞ãn] versus [suˈβ̞iɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "suban" or "subir"?
"subir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,703 in our Spanish list, against #12,061 for "suban". 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 "suban" and "subir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "suban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,636 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "suban" and "subir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suban vs subís". 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 #286,636 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