subíavssubísWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,396
“subía” frequency rank
#49,955
“subís” frequency rank
68351
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subía subís
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de subir o de subirse. Segunda persona del singular (vos) del presente de indicativo de subir o de subirse.

Where the eye mixes subía and subís

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. subía (CVCVV) and subís (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
subía
5 ch
subís

Look-alike desk: subía vs subís

A purely visual mix-up. subía ([suˈβ̞ia]) and subís ([suˈβ̞is]) 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 a single letter - a in “subía” becomes s in “subís”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subía is recorded at frequency rank #18,396, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈβ̞ia]. subís is at rank #49,955, tagged as averb, pronounced [suˈβ̞is].

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 68351, this pair ranks #34,727 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of subía vs subís

Shared letters: bsuí. Private to "subía": a. Private to "subís": -.

"subía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "subís" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "subía" for "subís" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([suˈβ̞ia] versus [suˈβ̞is]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "subía" or "subís"?
"subía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,396 in our Spanish list, against #49,955 for "subís". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "subía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subís" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #34,727 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subía" and "subís" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subís vs Suis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #34,727 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