consultarvsconsultenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#6,278
“consultar” frequency rank
#48,316
“consulten” frequency rank
54594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature consultar consulten
Definition Informarse con personas que entienden o pueden entender de un asunto más que uno mismo, para poder formarse una opinión o tomar una decisión. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de consultar.

Where the eye mixes consultar and consulten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. consultar and consulten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
consultar
9 ch
consulten

Why the eye confuses consultar with consulten

A purely visual mix-up. consultar ([kõnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and consulten ([kõnˈsul̪t̪ẽn]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

consultar is recorded at frequency rank #6,278, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ]. consulten is at rank #48,316, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõnˈsul̪t̪ẽn].

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 54594, this pair ranks #82,624 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of consultar vs consulten

Shared letters: clnostu. Private to "consultar": ar. Private to "consulten": e.

"consultar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "consulten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • consultar ← cconsultar · cnosultar · connsultar · conslutar · conssultar · consulatr · consulltar · consultarr
  • consulten ← cconsulten · cnosulten · connsulten · consluten · conssulten · consuletn · consullten · consultenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "consultar" and "consulten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõnsul̪ˈt̪aɾ] versus [kõnˈsul̪t̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "consultar" or "consulten"?
"consultar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,278 in our Spanish list, against #48,316 for "consulten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "consultar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "consulten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #82,624 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "consultar" and "consulten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consulté vs consulten". 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 #82,624 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