Which to use
“empeñan” is a verb and “empeños” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,551
- “empeñan” frequency rank
- #45,287
- “empeños” frequency rank
- 81838
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empeñan | empeños |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de empeñar o de empeñarse. | Forma del plural de empeño. |
Where the eye mixes empeñan and empeños
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. empeñan and empeños follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between empeñan and empeños
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empeñan is [ẽmˈpeɲãn] while empeños is [ẽmˈpeɲos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empeñan is recorded at frequency rank #36,551, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈpeɲãn]. empeños is at rank #45,287, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ẽmˈpeɲos].
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 81838, this pair ranks #9,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empeñan vs empeños
Shared letters: empñ. Private to "empeñan": an. Private to "empeños": os.
"empeñan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "empeños" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empeñan" for "empeños" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empeñan" or "empeños"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "empeñan" and "empeños" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empeñan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empeños" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empeñan" and "empeños" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empeñados vs empeños". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #9,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.