denvsdrewConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,020
“den” frequency rank
#21,990
“drew” frequency rank
24010
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature den drew
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de dar o de darse. Dibujó, pasaso simple del verbo draw.

Where the eye mixes den and drew

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

3 ch
den
4 ch
drew

Look-alike desk: den vs drew

A purely visual mix-up. den ([ˈd̪ẽn]) and drew (/dɹuː/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24010, 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]. drew is at rank #21,990, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɹuː/.

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 24010, this pair ranks #243,129 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of den vs drew

Shared letters: de. Private to "den": n. Private to "drew": rw.

"den" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "drew" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • drewddrew · derw · dreww · drrew · drwe · rdew

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "den" and "drew" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪ẽn] versus /dɹuː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "den" vs "drew" - which ranks higher?
"den" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,020 in our Spanish list, against #21,990 for "drew". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "den" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "drew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,129 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "den" and "drew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drew vs drug". 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 #243,129 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