sufríanvssufrirWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,854
“sufrían” frequency rank
#3,019
“sufrir” frequency rank
32873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sufrían sufrir
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sufrir. Sentir un malestar, un dolor, una pena, cualquier otra sensación o situación indeseada.

Where the eye mixes sufrían and sufrir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sufrían runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against sufrir's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
sufrían
6 ch
sufrir

Visual trap between sufrían and sufrir

A purely visual mix-up. sufrían ([suˈfɾiãn]) and sufrir ([suˈfɾiɾ]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sufrían is recorded at frequency rank #29,854, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈfɾiãn]. sufrir is at rank #3,019, tagged as averb, pronounced [suˈfɾiɾ].

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 32873, this pair ranks #199,754 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sufrían vs sufrir

Shared letters: frsu. Private to "sufrían": aní. Private to "sufrir": i.

"sufrían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "sufrir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sufrir ← sfurir · ssufrir · suffrir · sufirr · sufrirr · sufrri · sufrrir · surfir

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sufrían" and "sufrir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([suˈfɾiãn] versus [suˈfɾiɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sufrían" or "sufrir" show up more?
"sufrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,019 in our Spanish list, against #29,854 for "sufrían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "sufrían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sufrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #199,754 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sufrían" and "sufrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sufras vs sufrían". 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 #199,754 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