atañenvsataquenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,945
“atañen” frequency rank
#23,311
“ataquen” frequency rank
70256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atañen ataquen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de atañer. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de atacar.

Where the eye mixes atañen and ataquen

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

6 ch
atañen
7 ch
ataquen

Look-alike desk: atañen vs ataquen

A purely visual mix-up. atañen ([aˈt̪aɲẽn]) and ataquen ([aˈt̪akẽn]) 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 70256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atañen is recorded at frequency rank #46,945, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈt̪aɲẽn]. ataquen is at rank #23,311, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈt̪akẽn].

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 70256, this pair ranks #30,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of atañen vs ataquen

Shared letters: aent. Private to "atañen": ñ. Private to "ataquen": qu.

"atañen" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "ataquen" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ataquen ← aatquen · ataqeun · ataqquen · ataquenn · ataqune · atauqen · atqauen · attaquen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "atañen" for "ataquen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈt̪aɲẽn] versus [aˈt̪akẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "atañen" vs "ataquen" - which ranks higher?
"ataquen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,311 in our Spanish list, against #46,945 for "atañen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "atañen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ataquen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atañen" and "ataquen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atañen vs avancen". 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 #30,122 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