dejevsdenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: deje is a noun, den is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“deje” is a noun and “den” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,765
“deje” frequency rank
#2,020
“den” frequency rank
3785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deje den
Definition Parte del habla de una lengua que tiende hacia la manera local de hablarla en un lugar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dar o de darse.

Where the eye mixes deje and den

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
deje
3 ch
den

Visual trap between deje and den

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deje is [ˈd̪exe] while den is [ˈd̪ẽn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deje is recorded at frequency rank #1,765, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪exe]. den is at rank #2,020, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽn].

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 3785, this pair ranks #317,559 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deje vs den

Shared letters: de. Private to "deje": j. Private to "den": n.

"deje" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "den" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dejeddeje · deej · dejje · djee · edje

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "deje" for "den" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deje" is a noun and "den" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deje" or "den"?
"deje" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,765 in our Spanish list, against #2,020 for "den". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "deje" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "den" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,559 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deje" and "den" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "den vs dont". 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 #317,559 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