destacanvsdestacandoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,821
“destacan” frequency rank
#11,556
“destacando” frequency rank
17377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature destacan destacando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de destacar. Gerundio de destacar.

Where the eye mixes destacan and destacando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. destacan runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against destacando's 10 (CVCCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
destacan
10 ch
destacando

Look-alike desk: destacan vs destacando

A purely visual mix-up. destacan ([d̪esˈt̪akãn]) and destacando ([d̪est̪aˈkãn̪d̪o]) 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) - “destacan” sits inside “destacando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

destacan is recorded at frequency rank #5,821, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪akãn]. destacando is at rank #11,556, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪est̪aˈkãn̪d̪o].

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 17377, this pair ranks #272,376 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of destacan vs destacando

Shared letters: acdenst. Private to "destacan": -. Private to "destacando": o.

"destacan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "destacando" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • destacan ← ddestacan · desatcan · desstacan · destaacn · destacann · destaccan · destacna · destcaan
  • destacando ← ddestacando · desatcando · desstacando · destaacndo · destacadno · destacanddo · destacanndo · destacanod

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "destacan" and "destacando" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈt̪akãn] versus [d̪est̪aˈkãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "destacan" vs "destacando" - which ranks higher?
"destacan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,821 in our Spanish list, against #11,556 for "destacando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "destacan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destacando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #272,376 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "destacan" and "destacando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destacando vs destacándose". 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 #272,376 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