Which to use
“arrestan” and “arresten” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,491
- “arrestan” frequency rank
- #45,749
- “arresten” frequency rank
- 75240
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrestan | arresten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de arrestar o de arrestarse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de arrestar o de arrestarse. |
Where the eye mixes arrestan and arresten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. arrestan and arresten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: arrestan vs arresten
A purely visual mix-up. arrestan ([aˈrest̪ãn]) and arresten ([aˈrest̪ẽn]) 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 - a in “arrestan” becomes e in “arresten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrestan is recorded at frequency rank #29,491, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈrest̪ãn]. arresten is at rank #45,749, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈrest̪ẽn].
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 75240, this pair ranks #19,939 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of arrestan vs arresten
Shared letters: aenrst. Private to "arrestan": -. Private to "arresten": -.
"arrestan" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "arresten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "arrestan" and "arresten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "arrestan" or "arresten" show up more?
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 "arrestan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arresten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,939 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrestan" and "arresten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arresta vs arresten". 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 #19,939 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.