agentesvsausentesConfusable pair

Quick tell: agentes is a adjective, ausentes is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“agentes” is an adjective and “ausentes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,885
“agentes” frequency rank
#16,017
“ausentes” frequency rank
17902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature agentes ausentes
Definition Forma del plural de agente. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de ausentar o de ausentarse.

Where the eye mixes agentes and ausentes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
agentes
8 ch
ausentes

Why the eye confuses agentes with ausentes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: agentes is [aˈxẽn̪t̪es] while ausentes is [awˈsẽn̪t̪es]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

agentes is recorded at frequency rank #1,885, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈxẽn̪t̪es]. ausentes is at rank #16,017, tagged as averb, pronounced [awˈsẽn̪t̪es].

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 17902, this pair ranks #270,197 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of agentes vs ausentes

Shared letters: aenst. Private to "agentes": g. Private to "ausentes": u.

"agentes" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "ausentes" · 8 letters · shape VVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • agentesaegntes · agenets · agenntes · agentess · agentse · agenttes · agetnes · aggentes
  • ausentesasuentes · aucentes · auesntes · ausenets · ausenntes · ausentess · ausentse · ausenttes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "agentes" for "ausentes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "agentes" is an adjective and "ausentes" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "agentes" or "ausentes" show up more?
"agentes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,885 in our Spanish list, against #16,017 for "ausentes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "agentes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ausentes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #270,197 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "agentes" and "ausentes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agentes vs atente". 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 #270,197 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