Which to use
“den” and “dense” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,020
- “den” frequency rank
- #42,941
- “dense” frequency rank
- 44961
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | den | dense |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dar o de darse. | Segunda persona del plural (ustedes) del imperativo afirmativo de darse (con el pronombre «se» enclítico). |
Where the eye mixes den and dense
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between den and dense
A purely visual mix-up. den ([ˈd̪ẽn]) and dense ([ˈd̪ẽnse]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “den” sits inside “dense”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
den is recorded at frequency rank #2,020, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽn]. dense is at rank #42,941, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ẽnse].
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 44961, this pair ranks #134,107 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of den vs dense
Shared letters: den. Private to "den": -. Private to "dense": s.
"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dense" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dense ← ddense · dence · denes · dennse · densse · desne · dnese · ednse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "den" for "dense" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "den" or "dense" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "den" and "dense" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dense" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,107 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "den" and "dense" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déjense vs dense". 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 #134,107 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.