alejanvsapelanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#21,553
“alejan” frequency rank
#42,808
“apelan” frequency rank
64361
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alejan apelan
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 apelar.

Where the eye mixes alejan and apelan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alejan and apelan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
alejan
6 ch
apelan

Look-alike desk: alejan vs apelan

A purely visual mix-up. alejan ([aˈlexãn]) and apelan ([aˈpelãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64361, 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]. apelan is at rank #42,808, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈpelãn].

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 64361, this pair ranks #45,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alejan vs apelan

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "alejan": j. Private to "apelan": p.

"alejan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "apelan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alejanaeljan · aleajn · alejann · alejjan · alejna · aljean · allejan · laejan
  • apelanaeplan · apealn · apelann · apellan · apelna · aplean · appelan · paelan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alejan" and "apelan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlexãn] versus [aˈpelãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alejan" or "apelan" show up more?
"alejan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,553 in our Spanish list, against #42,808 for "apelan". 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 "alejan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apelan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,818 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alejan" and "apelan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anhelan vs apelan". 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 #45,818 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