apelanvsapestanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,808
“apelan” frequency rank
#43,380
“apestan” frequency rank
86188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature apelan apestan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apelar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de apestar.

Where the eye mixes apelan and apestan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. apelan runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against apestan's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
apelan
7 ch
apestan

Why the eye confuses apelan with apestan

A purely visual mix-up. apelan ([aˈpelãn]) and apestan ([aˈpest̪ãn]) 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 86188, 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]. apestan is at rank #43,380, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈpest̪ãn].

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 86188, this pair ranks #5,494 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of apelan vs apestan

Shared letters: aenp. Private to "apelan": l. Private to "apestan": st.

"apelan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "apestan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • apelanaeplan · apealn · apelann · apellan · apelna · aplean · appelan · paelan
  • apestanaepstan · apesatn · apesstan · apestann · apestna · apesttan · apetsan · appestan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "apelan" for "apestan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈpelãn] versus [aˈpest̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "apelan" vs "apestan" - which ranks higher?
"apelan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,808 in our Spanish list, against #43,380 for "apestan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "apelan" and "apestan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "apelan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "apestan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #5,494 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "apelan" and "apestan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apartan vs apestan". 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 #5,494 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