duermevsduermenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,824
“duerme” frequency rank
#13,230
“duermen” frequency rank
19054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duerme duermen
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dormir o de dormirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de dormir o de dormirse.

Where the eye mixes duerme and duermen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. duerme runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against duermen's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
duerme
7 ch
duermen

Why the eye confuses duerme with duermen

A purely visual mix-up. duerme ([ˈd̪weɾme]) and duermen ([ˈd̪weɾmẽn]) 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) - “duerme” sits inside “duermen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duerme is recorded at frequency rank #5,824, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪weɾme]. duermen is at rank #13,230, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪weɾmẽn].

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 19054, this pair ranks #265,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of duerme vs duermen

Shared letters: demru. Private to "duerme": -. Private to "duermen": n.

"duerme" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "duermen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • duerme ← dduerme · deurme · duemre · duerem · duermme · duerrme · dureme · uderme
  • duermen ← dduermen · deurmen · duemren · dueremn · duermenn · duermmen · duermne · duerrmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "duerme" and "duermen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈd̪weɾme] versus [ˈd̪weɾmẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "duerme" or "duermen"?
"duerme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,824 in our Spanish list, against #13,230 for "duermen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "duerme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "duermen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "duerme" and "duermen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "duerman vs duermen". 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 #265,388 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