alientanvsalimentanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,724
“alientan” frequency rank
#12,969
“alimentan” frequency rank
54693
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alientan alimentan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alentar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alimentar.

Where the eye mixes alientan and alimentan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. alientan runs 8 letters (VCVVCCVC) against alimentan's 9 (VCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
alientan
9 ch
alimentan

Visual trap between alientan and alimentan

A purely visual mix-up. alientan ([aˈljẽn̪t̪ãn]) and alimentan ([aliˈmẽn̪t̪ãn]) 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 54693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alientan is recorded at frequency rank #41,724, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈljẽn̪t̪ãn]. alimentan is at rank #12,969, tagged as averb, pronounced [aliˈmẽn̪t̪ãn].

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 54693, this pair ranks #82,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alientan vs alimentan

Shared letters: aeilnt. Private to "alientan": -. Private to "alimentan": m.

"alientan" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC  ·  "alimentan" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alientan ← ailentan · aleintan · alienatn · alienntan · alientann · alientna · alienttan · alietnan
  • alimentan ← ailmentan · aliemntan · alimenatn · alimenntan · alimentann · alimentna · alimenttan · alimetnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alientan" for "alimentan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈljẽn̪t̪ãn] versus [aliˈmẽn̪t̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alientan" vs "alimentan" - which ranks higher?
"alimentan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,969 in our Spanish list, against #41,724 for "alientan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alientan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alimentan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #82,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alientan" and "alimentan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alertan vs alientan". 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 #82,176 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