aleganvsalegrarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,322
“alegan” frequency rank
#32,486
“alegrar” frequency rank
62808
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegan alegrar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alegar. Causar alegría.

Where the eye mixes alegan and alegrar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alegan runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against alegrar's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alegan
7 ch
alegrar

Look-alike desk: alegan vs alegrar

A purely visual mix-up. alegan ([aˈleɣ̞ãn]) and alegrar ([aleˈɣ̞ɾaɾ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegan is recorded at frequency rank #30,322, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈleɣ̞ãn]. alegrar is at rank #32,486, tagged as averb, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞ɾaɾ].

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 62808, this pair ranks #50,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alegan vs alegrar

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "alegan": n. Private to "alegrar": r.

"alegan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alegrar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegan ← aelgan · aleagn · alegann · aleggan · alegna · algean · allegan · laegan
  • alegrar ← aelgrar · aleggrar · alegrarr · alegrrar · alergar · algerar · allegrar · laegrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alegan" and "alegrar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈleɣ̞ãn] versus [aleˈɣ̞ɾaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alegan" vs "alegrar" - which ranks higher?
"alegan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,322 in our Spanish list, against #32,486 for "alegrar". 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 "alegan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alegrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,775 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegan" and "alegrar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alegrar vs alegraría". 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 #50,775 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