abordajevsabordanWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: abordaje is a noun, abordan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“abordaje” is a noun and “abordan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,541
“abordaje” frequency rank
#22,917
“abordan” frequency rank
44458
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abordaje abordan
Definition Acción o efecto de abordar una nave o una persona. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de abordar.

Where the eye mixes abordaje and abordan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abordaje runs 8 letters (VCVCCVCV) against abordan's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
abordaje
7 ch
abordan

Look-alike desk: abordaje vs abordan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: abordaje is [aβ̞oɾˈð̞axe] while abordan is [aˈβ̞oɾð̞ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abordaje is recorded at frequency rank #21,541, classified as anoun, pronounced [aβ̞oɾˈð̞axe]. abordan is at rank #22,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞oɾð̞ãn].

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 44458, this pair ranks #136,953 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abordaje vs abordan

Shared letters: abdor. Private to "abordaje": ej. Private to "abordan": n.

"abordaje" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "abordan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abordajeabbordaje · abodraje · aboradje · abordaej · abordajje · aborddaje · abordjae · aborrdaje
  • abordanabbordan · abodran · aboradn · abordann · aborddan · abordna · aborrdan · abrodan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abordaje" and "abordan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "abordaje" is a noun and "abordan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "abordaje" or "abordan" show up more?
"abordaje" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,541 in our Spanish list, against #22,917 for "abordan". 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 "abordaje" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "abordan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #136,953 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abordaje" and "abordan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abogan vs abordan". 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 #136,953 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