sufrirvssurtirTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,019
“sufrir” frequency rank
#47,436
“surtir” frequency rank
50455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sufrir surtir
Definition Sentir un malestar, un dolor, una pena, cualquier otra sensación o situación indeseada. Suministrar

Where the eye mixes sufrir and surtir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. sufrir and surtir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
sufrir
6 ch
surtir

Why the eye confuses sufrir with surtir

A purely visual mix-up. sufrir ([suˈfɾiɾ]) and surtir ([suɾˈt̪iɾ]) 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 50455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sufrir is recorded at frequency rank #3,019, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈfɾiɾ]. surtir is at rank #47,436, tagged as averb, pronounced [suɾˈt̪iɾ].

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 50455, this pair ranks #103,114 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sufrir vs surtir

Shared letters: irsu. Private to "sufrir": f. Private to "surtir": t.

"sufrir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "surtir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sufrir ← sfurir · ssufrir · suffrir · sufirr · sufrirr · sufrri · sufrrir · surfir
  • surtir ← srutir · ssurtir · suritr · surrtir · surtirr · surtri · surttir · sutrir

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sufrir" for "surtir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([suˈfɾiɾ] versus [suɾˈt̪iɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "sufrir" vs "surtir" - which ranks higher?
"sufrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,019 in our Spanish list, against #47,436 for "surtir". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sufrir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "surtir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,114 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sufrir" and "surtir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "surtidor vs surtir". 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 #103,114 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