cuelgavscuelganTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,429
“cuelga” frequency rank
#20,634
“cuelgan” frequency rank
34063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuelga cuelgan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de colgar o de colgarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de colgar o de colgarse.

Where the eye mixes cuelga and cuelgan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cuelga runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against cuelgan's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cuelga
7 ch
cuelgan

Look-alike desk: cuelga vs cuelgan

A purely visual mix-up. cuelga ([ˈkwelɣ̞a]) and cuelgan ([ˈkwelɣ̞ãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “cuelga” sits inside “cuelgan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuelga is recorded at frequency rank #13,429, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkwelɣ̞a]. cuelgan is at rank #20,634, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkwelɣ̞ãn].

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 34063, this pair ranks #193,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cuelga vs cuelgan

Shared letters: aceglu. Private to "cuelga": -. Private to "cuelgan": n.

"cuelga" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "cuelgan" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuelgaccuelga · ceulga · cuegla · cuelag · cuelgga · cuellga · culega · ucelga
  • cuelganccuelgan · ceulgan · cueglan · cuelagn · cuelgann · cuelggan · cuelgna · cuellgan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuelga" and "cuelgan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkwelɣ̞a] versus [ˈkwelɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cuelga" vs "cuelgan" - which ranks higher?
"cuelga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,429 in our Spanish list, against #20,634 for "cuelgan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuelga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cuelgan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #193,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuelga" and "cuelgan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuelgan vs cuelguen". 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 #193,441 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