acompañanvsacompañandoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,091
“acompañan” frequency rank
#11,700
“acompañando” frequency rank
21791
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acompañan acompañando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acompañar. Gerundio de acompañar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acompañan and acompañando apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
acompañan
11 ch
acompañando

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. acompañan ([akõmˈpaɲãn]) and acompañando ([akõmpaˈɲãn̪d̪o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “acompañan” sits inside “acompañando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acompañan is recorded at frequency rank #10,091, classified as averb, pronounced [akõmˈpaɲãn]. acompañando is at rank #11,700, tagged as averb, pronounced [akõmpaˈɲãn̪d̪o].

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 21791, this pair ranks #253,326 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acompañan vs acompañando

Shared letters: acmnopñ. Private to "acompañan": -. Private to "acompañando": d.

"acompañan" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC  ·  "acompañando" · 11 letters · shape VCVCCVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

acompañan#10,091
acompañando#11,700

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acompañan" and "acompañando" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([akõmˈpaɲãn] versus [akõmpaˈɲãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "acompañan" or "acompañando"?
"acompañan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,091 in our Spanish list, against #11,700 for "acompañando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acompañan vs acompañando

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acompañan” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list