atendervsatiendeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,672
“atender” frequency rank
#8,222
“atiende” frequency rank
11894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atender atiende
Definition Poner atención, tener los sentidos puestos para captar o comprender algo. :*Sinónimos: escuchar, abrir los ojos, aguzar los oídos, estar a la mira, estar pendiente de, prestar atención, tener puestos los cinco sentidos Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de atender.

Where the eye mixes atender and atiende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. atender (VCVCCVC) and atiende (VCVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
atender
7 ch
atiende

Why the eye confuses atender with atiende

A purely visual mix-up. atender ([at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]) and atiende ([aˈt̪jẽn̪d̪e]) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atender is recorded at frequency rank #3,672, classified as averb, pronounced [at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. atiende is at rank #8,222, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈt̪jẽn̪d̪e].

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 11894, this pair ranks #293,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of atender vs atiende

Shared letters: adent. Private to "atender": r. Private to "atiende": i.

"atender" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "atiende" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atender ← aetnder · atedner · atendder · atenderr · atendre · atenedr · atennder · atneder
  • atiende ← aitende · ateinde · atiedne · atiendde · atiened · atiennde · atinede · attiende

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "atender" for "atiende" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] versus [aˈt̪jẽn̪d̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "atender" vs "atiende" - which ranks higher?
"atender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,672 in our Spanish list, against #8,222 for "atiende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "atender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atiende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atender" and "atiende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "atente vs atiende". 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 #293,483 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