Which to use
“afecten” is a verb and “afecto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,729
- “afecten” frequency rank
- #7,655
- “afecto” frequency rank
- 26384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | afecten | afecto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de afectar. | Cualquiera de las pasiones del ánimo, como ira, amor, odio, etc. |
Where the eye mixes afecten and afecto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: afecten vs afecto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: afecten is [aˈfekt̪ẽn] while afecto is [aˈfekt̪o]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
afecten is recorded at frequency rank #18,729, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈfekt̪ẽn]. afecto is at rank #7,655, tagged as anoun, pronounced [aˈfekt̪o].
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 26384, this pair ranks #231,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of afecten vs afecto
Shared letters: aceft. Private to "afecten": n. Private to "afecto": o.
"afecten" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "afecto" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "afecten" for "afecto" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "afecten" or "afecto" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "afecten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "afecto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "afecten" and "afecto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abeto vs afecto". 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 #231,894 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.