Which to use
“afecta” and “afectan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,643
- “afecta” frequency rank
- #5,063
- “afectan” frequency rank
- 7706
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | afecta | afectan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de afectar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de afectar. |
Where the eye mixes afecta and afectan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between afecta and afectan
A purely visual mix-up. afecta ([aˈfekt̪a]) and afectan ([aˈfekt̪ãn]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “afecta” sits inside “afectan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
afecta is recorded at frequency rank #2,643, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈfekt̪a]. afectan is at rank #5,063, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈfekt̪ãn].
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 7706, this pair ranks #307,179 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of afecta vs afectan
Shared letters: aceft. Private to "afecta": -. Private to "afectan": n.
"afecta" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "afectan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "afecta" for "afectan" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "afecta" or "afectan" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "afecta" and "afectan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "afecta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "afectan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #307,179 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "afecta" and "afectan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acechan vs afectan". 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 #307,179 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.