alejarvsalejenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,531
“alejar” frequency rank
#41,180
“alejen” frequency rank
56711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alejar alejen
Definition Poner o llevar lejos o a mayor distancia. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de alejar o de alejarse.

Where the eye mixes alejar and alejen

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

6 ch
alejar
6 ch
alejen

Look-alike desk: alejar vs alejen

A purely visual mix-up. alejar ([aleˈxaɾ]) and alejen ([aˈlexẽn]) 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 56711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alejar is recorded at frequency rank #15,531, classified as averb, pronounced [aleˈxaɾ]. alejen is at rank #41,180, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈlexẽn].

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 56711, this pair ranks #73,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alejar vs alejen

Shared letters: aejl. Private to "alejar": r. Private to "alejen": n.

"alejar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alejen" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alejaraeljar · aleajr · alejarr · alejjar · alejra · aljear · allejar · laejar
  • alejenaeljen · aleejn · alejenn · alejjen · alejne · aljeen · allejen · laejen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alejar" and "alejen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aleˈxaɾ] versus [aˈlexẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alejar" vs "alejen" - which ranks higher?
"alejar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,531 in our Spanish list, against #41,180 for "alejen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alejar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alejen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,442 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alejar" and "alejen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alejen vs aluden". 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 #73,442 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