tumbarvstumbesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,436
“tumbar” frequency rank
#39,507
“tumbes” frequency rank
66943
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tumbar tumbes
Definition Hacer caer o derribar a una persona o cosa. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de tumbar.

Where the eye mixes tumbar and tumbes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tumbar and tumbes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tumbar
6 ch
tumbes

Visual trap between tumbar and tumbes

A purely visual mix-up. tumbar ([t̪ũmˈbaɾ]) and tumbes ([ˈt̪ũmbes]) 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 66943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tumbar is recorded at frequency rank #27,436, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ũmˈbaɾ]. tumbes is at rank #39,507, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ũmbes].

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 66943, this pair ranks #38,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tumbar vs tumbes

Shared letters: bmtu. Private to "tumbar": ar. Private to "tumbes": es.

"tumbar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tumbes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tumbar ← tmubar · ttumbar · tubmar · tumabr · tumbarr · tumbbar · tumbra · tummbar
  • tumbes ← tmubes · ttumbes · tubmes · tumbbes · tumbess · tumbse · tumebs · tummbes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tumbar" and "tumbes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ũmˈbaɾ] versus [ˈt̪ũmbes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tumbar" or "tumbes"?
"tumbar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,436 in our Spanish list, against #39,507 for "tumbes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tumbar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tumbes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tumbar" and "tumbes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tumbes vs turbas". 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 #38,444 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