Which to use
“dañar” and “dejar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,272
- “dañar” frequency rank
- #392
- “dejar” frequency rank
- 9664
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dañar | dejar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hacer que alguien tener herida. | Depositar o colocar una cosa en su sitio. |
Where the eye mixes dañar and dejar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dañar and dejar
A purely visual mix-up. dañar ([d̪aˈɲaɾ]) and dejar ([d̪eˈxaɾ]) 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 9664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dañar is recorded at frequency rank #9,272, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪aˈɲaɾ]. dejar is at rank #392, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈxaɾ].
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 9664, this pair ranks #301,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dañar vs dejar
Shared letters: adr. Private to "dañar": ñ. Private to "dejar": ej.
"dañar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dejar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dejar ← ddejar · deajr · dejarr · dejjar · dejra · djear · edjar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dañar" for "dejar" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dañar" or "dejar" show up more?
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 "dañar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dejar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dañar" and "dejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dañar vs danger". 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 #301,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.