activenvsactivosWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#41,160
“activen” frequency rank
#2,857
“activos” frequency rank
44017
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature activen activos
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de activar. Forma del plural de activo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set activen and activos apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
activen
7 ch
activos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: activen is [akˈt̪iβ̞ẽn] while activos is [akˈt̪iβ̞os]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

activen is recorded at frequency rank #41,160, classified as averb, pronounced [akˈt̪iβ̞ẽn]. activos is at rank #2,857, tagged as anoun, pronounced [akˈt̪iβ̞os].

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 44017, this pair ranks #139,391 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of activen vs activos

Shared letters: acitv. Private to "activen": en. Private to "activos": os.

"activen" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "activos" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • activenacctiven · acitven · actiben · actievn · activenn · activne · activven · acttiven
  • activosacctivos · acitvos · actibos · actiovs · activoss · activso · activvos · acttivos

Frequency comparison

activen#41,160
activos#2,857

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "activen" and "activos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "activen" is a verb and "activos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "activen" or "activos"?
"activos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,857 in our Spanish list, against #41,160 for "activen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering activen vs activos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “activen”; for a noun, it's “activos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “activen” 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