detenganvsdetengoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,109
“detengan” frequency rank
#40,767
“detengo” frequency rank
57876
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature detengan detengo
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de detener o de detenerse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de detener.

Where the eye mixes detengan and detengo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
detengan
7 ch
detengo

Look-alike desk: detengan vs detengo

A purely visual mix-up. detengan ([d̪eˈt̪ẽŋgãn]) and detengo ([d̪eˈt̪ẽŋgo]) 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 57876, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

detengan is recorded at frequency rank #17,109, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈt̪ẽŋgãn]. detengo is at rank #40,767, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈt̪ẽŋgo].

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 57876, this pair ranks #68,705 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of detengan vs detengo

Shared letters: degnt. Private to "detengan": a. Private to "detengo": o.

"detengan" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "detengo" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • detenganddetengan · deetngan · detegnan · detenagn · detengann · detenggan · detengna · detenngan
  • detengoddetengo · deetngo · detegno · detenggo · detenngo · detenog · detnego · dettengo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "detengan" for "detengo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈt̪ẽŋgãn] versus [d̪eˈt̪ẽŋgo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "detengan" or "detengo"?
"detengan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,109 in our Spanish list, against #40,767 for "detengo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "detengan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "detengo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,705 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "detengan" and "detengo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detengas vs detengo". 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 #68,705 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