defiendevsdefiendenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,151
“defiende” frequency rank
#7,135
“defienden” frequency rank
11286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defiende defienden
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de defender o de defenderse.

Where the eye mixes defiende and defienden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. defiende runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against defienden's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
defiende
9 ch
defienden

Look-alike desk: defiende vs defienden

A purely visual mix-up. defiende ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪e]) and defienden ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪ẽn]) 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) - “defiende” sits inside “defienden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defiende is recorded at frequency rank #4,151, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪e]. defienden is at rank #7,135, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪ẽn].

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 11286, this pair ranks #295,650 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of defiende vs defienden

Shared letters: defin. Private to "defiende": -. Private to "defienden": -.

"defiende" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "defienden" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defiende ← ddefiende · defeinde · deffiende · defiedne · defiendde · defiened · defiennde · definede
  • defienden ← ddefienden · defeinden · deffienden · defiednen · defiendden · defiendenn · defiendne · defienedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "defiende" for "defienden" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪e] versus [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "defiende" vs "defienden" - which ranks higher?
"defiende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,151 in our Spanish list, against #7,135 for "defienden". 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 "defiende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "defienden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,650 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defiende" and "defienden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiende vs deviene". 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 #295,650 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