Which to use
“arrestar” and “arresten” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,776
- “arrestar” frequency rank
- #45,749
- “arresten” frequency rank
- 61525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arrestar | arresten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poner preso. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de arrestar o de arrestarse. |
Where the eye mixes arrestar and arresten
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between arrestar and arresten
A purely visual mix-up. arrestar ([aresˈt̪aɾ]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arrestar is recorded at frequency rank #15,776, classified as averb, pronounced [aresˈt̪aɾ]. 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 61525, this pair ranks #55,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of arrestar vs arresten
Shared letters: aerst. Private to "arrestar": -. Private to "arresten": n.
"arrestar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "arresten" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "arrestar" and "arresten" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "arrestar" or "arresten" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "arrestar" and "arresten" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "arrestar" 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 #55,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arrestar" 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 #55,151 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.