alejanvsalertanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,553
“alejan” frequency rank
#45,722
“alertan” frequency rank
67275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alejan alertan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alejar o de alejarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alertar.

Where the eye mixes alejan and alertan

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

6 ch
alejan
7 ch
alertan

Why the eye confuses alejan with alertan

A purely visual mix-up. alejan ([aˈlexãn]) and alertan ([aˈleɾt̪ãn]) 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 67275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alejan is recorded at frequency rank #21,553, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈlexãn]. alertan is at rank #45,722, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈleɾt̪ãn].

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 67275, this pair ranks #37,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alejan vs alertan

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "alejan": j. Private to "alertan": rt.

"alejan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alertan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alejan ← aeljan · aleajn · alejann · alejjan · alejna · aljean · allejan · laejan
  • alertan ← aelrtan · aleratn · alerrtan · alertann · alertna · alerttan · allertan · alretan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alejan" for "alertan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlexãn] versus [aˈleɾt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alejan" vs "alertan" - which ranks higher?
"alejan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,553 in our Spanish list, against #45,722 for "alertan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "alejan" and "alertan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alejan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alertan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alejan" and "alertan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alertan vs apartan". 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 #37,573 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