Which to use
“desarrollan” and “desarrollando” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,414
- “desarrollan” frequency rank
- #6,394
- “desarrollando” frequency rank
- 13808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desarrollan | desarrollando |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desarrollar o de desarrollarse. | Gerundio de desarrollar. |
Where the eye mixes desarrollan and desarrollando
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. desarrollan runs 11 letters (CVCVCCVCCVC) against desarrollando's 13 (CVCVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses desarrollan with desarrollando
A purely visual mix-up. desarrollan ([d̪esaˈroʝãn]) and desarrollando ([d̪esaroˈʝãn̪d̪o]) 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) - “desarrollan” sits inside “desarrollando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desarrollan is recorded at frequency rank #7,414, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esaˈroʝãn]. desarrollando is at rank #6,394, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esaroˈʝãn̪d̪o].
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 13808, this pair ranks #286,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of desarrollan vs desarrollando
Shared letters: adelnors. Private to "desarrollan": -. Private to "desarrollando": -.
"desarrollan" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC · "desarrollando" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- desarrollan ← ddesarrollan · deasrrollan · desarollan · desarorllan · desarrlolan · desarrolaln · desarrolan · desarrollann
- desarrollando ← ddesarrollando · deasrrollando · desarollando · desarorllando · desarrlolando · desarrolalndo · desarrolando · desarrolladno
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "desarrollan" and "desarrollando" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desarrollan" or "desarrollando" show up more?
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 "desarrollan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desarrollando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desarrollan" and "desarrollando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desarrollan vs desarrollarán". 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 #286,471 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.