derivarvsderivenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,785
“derivar” frequency rank
#47,055
“deriven” frequency rank
65840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature derivar deriven
Definition Proceder una cosa de otra en cuanto a su causa o modelo. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de derivar o de derivarse.

Where the eye mixes derivar and deriven

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. derivar and deriven follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
derivar
7 ch
deriven

Why the eye confuses derivar with deriven

A purely visual mix-up. derivar ([d̪eɾiˈβ̞aɾ]) and deriven ([d̪eˈɾiβ̞ẽn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

derivar is recorded at frequency rank #18,785, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eɾiˈβ̞aɾ]. deriven is at rank #47,055, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈɾiβ̞ẽn].

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 65840, this pair ranks #41,490 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of derivar vs deriven

Shared letters: deirv. Private to "derivar": a. Private to "deriven": n.

"derivar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "deriven" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • derivar ← dderivar · deirvar · deriavr · derivarr · derivra · derivvar · derviar · dreivar
  • deriven ← dderiven · deirven · deriben · derievn · derivenn · derivne · derivven · derriven

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "derivar" for "deriven" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eɾiˈβ̞aɾ] versus [d̪eˈɾiβ̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "derivar" or "deriven"?
"derivar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,785 in our Spanish list, against #47,055 for "deriven". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "derivar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deriven" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,490 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "derivar" and "deriven" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deriven vs driver". 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 #41,490 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