abarcanvsapartanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,130
“abarcan” frequency rank
#49,421
“apartan” frequency rank
67551
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abarcan apartan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de abarcar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apartar o de apartarse.

Where the eye mixes abarcan and apartan

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

7 ch
abarcan
7 ch
apartan

Why the eye confuses abarcan with apartan

A purely visual mix-up. abarcan ([aˈβ̞aɾkãn]) and apartan ([aˈpaɾt̪ãn]) 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 67551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abarcan is recorded at frequency rank #18,130, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞aɾkãn]. apartan is at rank #49,421, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈpaɾt̪ãn].

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 67551, this pair ranks #36,814 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of abarcan vs apartan

Shared letters: anr. Private to "abarcan": bc. Private to "apartan": pt.

"abarcan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "apartan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abarcanaabrcan · abacran · abaracn · abarcann · abarccan · abarcna · abarrcan · abbarcan
  • apartanaaprtan · aparatn · aparrtan · apartann · apartna · aparttan · apatran · appartan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abarcan" and "apartan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈβ̞aɾkãn] versus [aˈpaɾt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "abarcan" vs "apartan" - which ranks higher?
"abarcan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,130 in our Spanish list, against #49,421 for "apartan". 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 "abarcan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apartan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,814 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abarcan" and "apartan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apartan vs apartando". 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 #36,814 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