Which to use
“dificultan” and “dificultar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,164
- “dificultan” frequency rank
- #30,036
- “dificultar” frequency rank
- 59200
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dificultan | dificultar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dificultar. | Poner dificultades, sean estas físicas, mediante obstáculos, o abstractas, alegando opiniones contrarias a una intención. |
Where the eye mixes dificultan and dificultar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. dificultan and dificultar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dificultan vs dificultar
A purely visual mix-up. dificultan ([d̪ifiˈkul̪t̪ãn]) and dificultar ([d̪ifikul̪ˈt̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “dificultan” becomes r in “dificultar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dificultan is recorded at frequency rank #29,164, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪ifiˈkul̪t̪ãn]. dificultar is at rank #30,036, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪ifikul̪ˈt̪aɾ].
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 59200, this pair ranks #63,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dificultan vs dificultar
Shared letters: acdfiltu. Private to "dificultan": n. Private to "dificultar": r.
"dificultan" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC · "dificultar" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dificultan ← ddificultan · dfiicultan · difciultan · difficultan · dificcultan · dificlutan · dificulatn · dificulltan
- dificultar ← ddificultar · dfiicultar · difciultar · difficultar · dificcultar · dificlutar · dificulatr · dificulltar
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dificultan" and "dificultar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dificultan" vs "dificultar" - which ranks higher?
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 "dificultan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dificultar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dificultan" and "dificultar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dificultan vs dificultando". 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 #63,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.