atentarvsatenteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,388
“atentar” frequency rank
#46,948
“atente” frequency rank
71336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atentar atente
Definition Cometer un atentado. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de atenerse (con el pronombre «te» enclítico).

Where the eye mixes atentar and atente

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
atentar
6 ch
atente

Look-alike desk: atentar vs atente

A purely visual mix-up. atentar ([at̪ẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and atente ([aˈt̪ẽn̪t̪e]) 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 71336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atentar is recorded at frequency rank #24,388, classified as averb, pronounced [at̪ẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ]. atente is at rank #46,948, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈt̪ẽn̪t̪e].

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 71336, this pair ranks #27,737 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of atentar vs atente

Shared letters: aent. Private to "atentar": r. Private to "atente": -.

"atentar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "atente" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atentaraetntar · atenatr · atenntar · atentarr · atentra · atenttar · atetnar · atnetar
  • atenteaetnte · atenet · atennte · atentte · atetne · atnete · attente · taente

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "atentar" and "atente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([at̪ẽn̪ˈt̪aɾ] versus [aˈt̪ẽn̪t̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "atentar" vs "atente" - which ranks higher?
"atentar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,388 in our Spanish list, against #46,948 for "atente". 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 "atentar" and "atente" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "atentar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "atente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,737 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "atentar" and "atente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Atenco vs atente". 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 #27,737 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