Which to use
“duele” and “duerme” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,878
- “duele” frequency rank
- #5,824
- “duerme” frequency rank
- 8702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | duele | duerme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de dolar. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dormir o de dormirse. |
Where the eye mixes duele and duerme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. duele runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against duerme's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: duele vs duerme
A purely visual mix-up. duele ([ˈd̪wele]) and duerme ([ˈd̪weɾme]) 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 8702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
duele is recorded at frequency rank #2,878, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪wele]. duerme is at rank #5,824, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪weɾme].
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 8702, this pair ranks #304,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of duele vs duerme
Shared letters: deu. Private to "duele": l. Private to "duerme": mr.
"duele" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "duerme" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "duele" for "duerme" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "duele" or "duerme" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "duele" and "duerme" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "duele" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duerme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "duele" and "duerme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deli vs duele". 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 #304,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.