detienenvsdevieneTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,133
“detienen” frequency rank
#44,695
“deviene” frequency rank
56828
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature detienen deviene
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de detener o de detenerse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de devenir.

Where the eye mixes detienen and deviene

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

8 ch
detienen
7 ch
deviene

Look-alike desk: detienen vs deviene

A purely visual mix-up. detienen ([d̪eˈt̪jenẽn]) and deviene ([d̪eˈβ̞jene]) 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 56828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

detienen is recorded at frequency rank #12,133, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈt̪jenẽn]. deviene is at rank #44,695, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈβ̞jene].

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 56828, this pair ranks #72,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of detienen vs deviene

Shared letters: dein. Private to "detienen": t. Private to "deviene": v.

"detienen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC  ·  "deviene" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • detienenddetienen · deitenen · deteinen · detieenn · detienenn · detiennen · detineen · dettienen
  • devieneddeviene · debiene · deivene · deveine · devieen · devienne · devinee · devviene

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "detienen" and "deviene" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈt̪jenẽn] versus [d̪eˈβ̞jene]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "detienen" or "deviene"?
"detienen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,133 in our Spanish list, against #44,695 for "deviene". 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 "detienen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "deviene" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "detienen" and "deviene" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detiene vs deviene". 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 #72,943 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