discutanvsdiscutenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,258
“discutan” frequency rank
#15,594
“discuten” frequency rank
55852
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature discutan discuten
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de discutir. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de discutir.

Where the eye mixes discutan and discuten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. discutan and discuten follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
discutan
8 ch
discuten

Why the eye confuses discutan with discuten

A purely visual mix-up. discutan ([d̪isˈkut̪ãn]) and discuten ([d̪isˈkut̪ẽn]) 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 - a in “discutan” becomes e in “discuten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

discutan is recorded at frequency rank #40,258, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪isˈkut̪ãn]. discuten is at rank #15,594, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪isˈkut̪ẽn].

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 55852, this pair ranks #77,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of discutan vs discuten

Shared letters: cdinstu. Private to "discutan": a. Private to "discuten": e.

"discutan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "discuten" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • discutan ← ddiscutan · dicsutan · disccutan · disctuan · discuatn · discutann · discutna · discuttan
  • discuten ← ddiscuten · dicsuten · disccuten · disctuen · discuetn · discutenn · discutne · discutten

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "discutan" and "discuten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪isˈkut̪ãn] versus [d̪isˈkut̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "discutan" vs "discuten" - which ranks higher?
"discuten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,594 in our Spanish list, against #40,258 for "discutan". 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 "discutan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "discuten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #77,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "discutan" and "discuten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "discutan vs discutas". 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 #77,058 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