cometenvscometerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,553
“cometen” frequency rank
#4,983
“cometer” frequency rank
17536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cometen cometer
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cometer o de cometerse. Dar uno sus veces a otro

Where the eye mixes cometen and cometer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
cometen
7 ch
cometer

Why the eye confuses cometen with cometer

A purely visual mix-up. cometen ([koˈmet̪ẽn]) and cometer ([komeˈt̪eɾ]) 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 “cometen” becomes r in “cometer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cometen is recorded at frequency rank #12,553, classified as averb, pronounced [koˈmet̪ẽn]. cometer is at rank #4,983, tagged as averb, pronounced [komeˈt̪eɾ].

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 17536, this pair ranks #271,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cometen vs cometer

Shared letters: cemot. Private to "cometen": n. Private to "cometer": r.

"cometen" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "cometer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cometenccometen · cmoeten · coemten · comeetn · cometenn · cometne · cometten · commeten
  • cometerccometer · cmoeter · coemter · comeetr · cometerr · cometre · cometter · commeter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cometen" and "cometer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([koˈmet̪ẽn] versus [komeˈt̪eɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cometen" vs "cometer" - which ranks higher?
"cometer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,983 in our Spanish list, against #12,553 for "cometen". 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 "cometen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cometer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,713 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cometen" and "cometer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comerán vs cometen". 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 #271,713 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