apelanvsapelarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,808
“apelan” frequency rank
#14,509
“apelar” frequency rank
57317
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apelan apelar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apelar. Protestar una decisión ante un tercero.

Where the eye mixes apelan and apelar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. apelan and apelar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
apelan
6 ch
apelar

Visual trap between apelan and apelar

A purely visual mix-up. apelan ([aˈpelãn]) and apelar ([apeˈlaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “apelan” becomes r in “apelar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

apelan is recorded at frequency rank #42,808, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈpelãn]. apelar is at rank #14,509, tagged as averb, pronounced [apeˈlaɾ].

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 57317, this pair ranks #70,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apelan vs apelar

Shared letters: aelp. Private to "apelan": n. Private to "apelar": r.

"apelan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "apelar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apelan ← aeplan · apealn · apelann · apellan · apelna · aplean · appelan · paelan
  • apelar ← aeplar · apealr · apelarr · apellar · apelra · aplear · appelar · paelar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "apelan" and "apelar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpelãn] versus [apeˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "apelan" or "apelar" show up more?
"apelar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,509 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "apelan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apelar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apelan" and "apelar" 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 #70,983 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