dirigevsdirigirWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,177
“dirige” frequency rank
#4,154
“dirigir” frequency rank
7331
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dirige dirigir
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dirigir o de dirigirse. Manejar o gobernar algo.

Where the eye mixes dirige and dirigir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
dirige
7 ch
dirigir

Why the eye confuses dirige with dirigir

A purely visual mix-up. dirige ([d̪iˈɾixe]) and dirigir ([d̪iɾiˈxiɾ]) 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 7331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dirige is recorded at frequency rank #3,177, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪iˈɾixe]. dirigir is at rank #4,154, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪iɾiˈxiɾ].

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 7331, this pair ranks #308,288 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dirige vs dirigir

Shared letters: dgir. Private to "dirige": e. Private to "dirigir": -.

"dirige" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "dirigir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dirigeddirige · diirge · dirgie · dirieg · dirigge · dirrige · driige · idrige
  • dirigirddirigir · diirgir · dirgiir · diriggir · dirigirr · dirigri · diriigr · dirrigir

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dirige" for "dirigir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪iˈɾixe] versus [d̪iɾiˈxiɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dirige" or "dirigir" show up more?
"dirige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,177 in our Spanish list, against #4,154 for "dirigir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dirige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dirigir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #308,288 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dirige" and "dirigir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dirigir vs dirimir". 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 #308,288 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