Which to use
“distingue” and “distinguen” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,804
- “distingue” frequency rank
- #15,352
- “distinguen” frequency rank
- 25156
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | distingue | distinguen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de distinguir o de distinguirse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de distinguir o de distinguirse. |
Where the eye mixes distingue and distinguen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. distingue runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVV) against distinguen's 10 (CVCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between distingue and distinguen
A purely visual mix-up. distingue ([d̪isˈt̪ĩŋge]) and distinguen ([d̪isˈt̪ĩŋgẽn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “distingue” sits inside “distinguen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
distingue is recorded at frequency rank #9,804, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪isˈt̪ĩŋge]. distinguen is at rank #15,352, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪isˈt̪ĩŋgẽn].
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 25156, this pair ranks #237,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of distingue vs distinguen
Shared letters: deginstu. Private to "distingue": -. Private to "distinguen": -.
"distingue" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV · "distinguen" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- distingue ← ddistingue · disitngue · disstingue · distignue · distingeu · distinggue · distinngue · distinuge
- distinguen ← ddistinguen · disitnguen · disstinguen · distignuen · distingeun · distingguen · distinguenn · distingune
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "distingue" and "distinguen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "distingue" or "distinguen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "distingue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "distinguen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "distingue" and "distinguen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distinguen vs distinguía". 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 #237,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.