aguardavsaguardanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,292
“aguarda” frequency rank
#41,720
“aguardan” frequency rank
65012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aguarda aguardan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aguardar o de aguardarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aguardar o de aguardarse.

Where the eye mixes aguarda and aguardan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. aguarda runs 7 letters (VCVVCCV) against aguardan's 8 (VCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
aguarda
8 ch
aguardan

Why the eye confuses aguarda with aguardan

A purely visual mix-up. aguarda ([aˈɣ̞waɾð̞a]) and aguardan ([aˈɣ̞waɾð̞ãn]) 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) - “aguarda” sits inside “aguardan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aguarda is recorded at frequency rank #23,292, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞waɾð̞a]. aguardan is at rank #41,720, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞waɾð̞ãn].

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 65012, this pair ranks #43,888 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aguarda vs aguardan

Shared letters: adgru. Private to "aguarda": -. Private to "aguardan": n.

"aguarda" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV  ·  "aguardan" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aguardaagaurda · agguarda · aguadra · aguarad · aguardda · aguarrda · agurada · augarda
  • aguardanagaurdan · agguardan · aguadran · aguaradn · aguardann · aguarddan · aguardna · aguarrdan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aguarda" and "aguardan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈɣ̞waɾð̞a] versus [aˈɣ̞waɾð̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "aguarda" vs "aguardan" - which ranks higher?
"aguarda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,292 in our Spanish list, against #41,720 for "aguardan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "aguarda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aguardan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,888 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aguarda" and "aguardan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aguardan vs aguardando". 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 #43,888 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