defiendavsdefiendanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,782
“defienda” frequency rank
#24,825
“defiendan” frequency rank
43607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defienda defiendan
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de defender o de defenderse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de defender o de defenderse.

Where the eye mixes defienda and defiendan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
defienda
9 ch
defiendan

Look-alike desk: defienda vs defiendan

A purely visual mix-up. defienda ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪a]) and defiendan ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪ãn]) 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) - “defienda” sits inside “defiendan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defienda is recorded at frequency rank #18,782, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪a]. defiendan is at rank #24,825, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪ãn].

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 43607, this pair ranks #141,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of defienda vs defiendan

Shared letters: adefin. Private to "defienda": -. Private to "defiendan": -.

"defienda" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "defiendan" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defiendaddefienda · defeinda · deffienda · defiedna · defienad · defiendda · defiennda · defineda
  • defiendanddefiendan · defeindan · deffiendan · defiednan · defienadn · defiendann · defienddan · defiendna

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "defienda" and "defiendan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪a] versus [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "defienda" or "defiendan" show up more?
"defienda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,782 in our Spanish list, against #24,825 for "defiendan". 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 "defienda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "defiendan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defienda" and "defiendan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiendan vs dependan". 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 #141,751 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