defendervsdependenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,894
“defender” frequency rank
#6,895
“dependen” frequency rank
8789
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defender dependen
Definition Mantener algo o alguien a salvo de un daño o perjuicio. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de depender.

Where the eye mixes defender and dependen

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

8 ch
defender
8 ch
dependen

Visual trap between defender and dependen

A purely visual mix-up. defender ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]) and dependen ([d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪ẽn]) 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 8789, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defender is recorded at frequency rank #1,894, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. dependen is at rank #6,895, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪ẽn].

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 8789, this pair ranks #303,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of defender vs dependen

Shared letters: den. Private to "defender": fr. Private to "dependen": p.

"defender" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "dependen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defenderddefender · deefnder · defedner · defendder · defenderr · defendre · defenedr · defennder
  • dependenddependen · deepnden · depednen · dependden · dependenn · dependne · depenedn · depennden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "defender" and "dependen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] versus [d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "defender" or "dependen"?
"defender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,894 in our Spanish list, against #6,895 for "dependen". 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 "defender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dependen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #303,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defender" and "dependen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dependen vs dependerán". 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 #303,918 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