Which to use
“aguardan” and “aguardando” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,720
- “aguardan” frequency rank
- #48,182
- “aguardando” frequency rank
- 89902
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aguardan | aguardando |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de aguardar o de aguardarse. | Gerundio de aguardar. |
Where the eye mixes aguardan and aguardando
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. aguardan runs 8 letters (VCVVCCVC) against aguardando's 10 (VCVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses aguardan with aguardando
A purely visual mix-up. aguardan ([aˈɣ̞waɾð̞ãn]) and aguardando ([aɣ̞waɾˈð̞ãn̪d̪o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “aguardan” sits inside “aguardando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aguardan is recorded at frequency rank #41,720, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈɣ̞waɾð̞ãn]. aguardando is at rank #48,182, tagged as averb, pronounced [aɣ̞waɾˈð̞ãn̪d̪o].
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 89902, this pair ranks #2,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aguardan vs aguardando
Shared letters: adgnru. Private to "aguardan": -. Private to "aguardando": o.
"aguardan" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC · "aguardando" · 10 letters · shape VCVVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- aguardan ← agaurdan · agguardan · aguadran · aguaradn · aguardann · aguarddan · aguardna · aguarrdan
- aguardando ← agaurdando · agguardando · aguadrando · aguaradndo · aguardadno · aguardanddo · aguardanndo · aguardanod
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "aguardan" and "aguardando" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "aguardan" or "aguardando" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "aguardan" and "aguardando" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "aguardan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aguardando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aguardan" and "aguardando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agradan vs aguardan". 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 #2,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.