autorizanvsautorizarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,282
“autorizan” frequency rank
#16,763
“autorizar” frequency rank
59045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature autorizan autorizar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de autorizar. Dar a alguien autoridad o facultad para hacer algo.

Where the eye mixes autorizan and autorizar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. autorizan and autorizar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
autorizan
9 ch
autorizar

Look-alike desk: autorizan vs autorizar

A purely visual mix-up. autorizan ([awt̪oˈɾisãn]) and autorizar ([awt̪oɾiˈsaɾ]) 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 - n in “autorizan” becomes r in “autorizar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59045, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

autorizan is recorded at frequency rank #42,282, classified as averb, pronounced [awt̪oˈɾisãn]. autorizar is at rank #16,763, tagged as averb, pronounced [awt̪oɾiˈsaɾ].

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 59045, this pair ranks #64,102 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of autorizan vs autorizar

Shared letters: aiortuz. Private to "autorizan": n. Private to "autorizar": -.

"autorizan" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC  ·  "autorizar" · 9 letters · shape VVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • autorizanatuorizan · auotrizan · autoirzan · autoriazn · autorizann · autorizna · autorizzan · autorrizan
  • autorizaratuorizar · auotrizar · autoirzar · autoriazr · autorizarr · autorizra · autorizzar · autorrizar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "autorizan" and "autorizar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([awt̪oˈɾisãn] versus [awt̪oɾiˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "autorizan" or "autorizar"?
"autorizar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,763 in our Spanish list, against #42,282 for "autorizan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "autorizan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "autorizar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,102 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "autorizan" and "autorizar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "autorizan vs autorizando". 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 #64,102 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