acabenvsañadenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#15,762
“acaben” frequency rank
#15,019
“añaden” frequency rank
30781
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acaben añaden
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de acabar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de añadir.

Where the eye mixes acaben and añaden

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

6 ch
acaben
6 ch
añaden

Why the eye confuses acaben with añaden

A purely visual mix-up. acaben ([aˈkaβ̞ẽn]) and añaden ([aˈɲað̞ẽn]) 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 30781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acaben is recorded at frequency rank #15,762, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞ẽn]. añaden is at rank #15,019, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈɲað̞ẽn].

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 30781, this pair ranks #210,328 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acaben vs añaden

Shared letters: aen. Private to "acaben": bc. Private to "añaden": dñ.

"acaben" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "añaden" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acaben ← aacben · acabben · acabenn · acabne · acaebn · acaven · acbaen · accaben

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "acaben" and "añaden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈkaβ̞ẽn] versus [aˈɲað̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "acaben" vs "añaden" - which ranks higher?
"añaden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,019 in our Spanish list, against #15,762 for "acaben". 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 "acaben" and "añaden" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "acaben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "añaden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #210,328 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acaben" and "añaden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acaben vs aclaren". 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 #210,328 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