subovssupoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,319
“subo” frequency rank
#4,201
“supo” frequency rank
15520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subo supo
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de subir o de subirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de saber.

Where the eye mixes subo and supo

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

4 ch
subo
4 ch
supo

Why the eye confuses subo with supo

A purely visual mix-up. subo ([ˈsuβ̞o]) and supo ([ˈsupo]) 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 - b in “subo” becomes p in “supo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subo is recorded at frequency rank #11,319, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsuβ̞o]. supo is at rank #4,201, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈsupo].

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 15520, this pair ranks #279,811 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of subo vs supo

Shared letters: osu. Private to "subo": b. Private to "supo": p.

"subo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "supo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subosbuo · ssubo · subbo · suob · suvo · usbo
  • supospuo · ssupo · suop · suppo · uspo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "subo" and "supo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈsuβ̞o] versus [ˈsupo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "subo" or "supo"?
"supo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,201 in our Spanish list, against #11,319 for "subo". 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 "subo" and "supo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "subo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "supo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,811 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subo" and "supo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subís vs subo". 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 #279,811 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