Which to use
“Dueñas” is a name and “duende” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,384
- “Dueñas” frequency rank
- #17,671
- “duende” frequency rank
- 37055
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Dueñas | duende |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Apellido. | Pequeña criatura mitológica de pequeño tamaño. |
Where the eye mixes Dueñas and duende
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. Dueñas (CVVCVC) and duende (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: Dueñas vs duende
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Dueñas is [ˈd̪weɲas] while duende is [ˈd̪wẽn̪d̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Dueñas is recorded at frequency rank #19,384, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈd̪weɲas]. duende is at rank #17,671, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈd̪wẽn̪d̪e].
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 37055, this pair ranks #177,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Dueñas vs duende
Shared letters: deu. Private to "Dueñas": asñ. Private to "duende": n.
"Dueñas" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "duende" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- duende ← dduende · deunde · duedne · duendde · duened · duennde · dunede · udende
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Dueñas" for "duende" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Dueñas" vs "duende" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Dueñas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Dueñas" and "duende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dense vs duende". 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 #177,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.