anulanvsapelanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,188
“anulan” frequency rank
#42,808
“apelan” frequency rank
83996
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature anulan apelan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de anular o de anularse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apelar.

Where the eye mixes anulan and apelan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. anulan 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
anulan
6 ch
apelan

Visual trap between anulan and apelan

A purely visual mix-up. anulan ([aˈnulãn]) 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 83996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

anulan is recorded at frequency rank #41,188, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈnulãn]. 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 83996, this pair ranks #7,519 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of anulan vs apelan

Shared letters: aln. Private to "anulan": u. Private to "apelan": ep.

"anulan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "apelan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • anulananluan · annulan · anualn · anulann · anullan · anulna · aunlan · naulan
  • apelanaeplan · apealn · apelann · apellan · apelna · aplean · appelan · paelan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "anulan" and "apelan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈnulãn] versus [aˈpelãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "anulan" or "apelan"?
"anulan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,188 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.

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 "anulan" 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 #7,519 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "anulan" and "apelan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "anulan vs anulando". 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 #7,519 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