Which to use
“empiece” is a noun and “empiecen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,397
- “empiece” frequency rank
- #9,447
- “empiecen” frequency rank
- 15844
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empiece | empiecen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Principio. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de empezar. |
Where the eye mixes empiece and empiecen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. empiece runs 7 letters (VCCVVCV) against empiecen's 8 (VCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between empiece and empiecen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empiece is [ẽmˈpjese] while empiecen is [ẽmˈpjesẽn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “empiece” sits inside “empiecen”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empiece is recorded at frequency rank #6,397, classified as anoun, pronounced [ẽmˈpjese]. empiecen is at rank #9,447, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈpjesẽn].
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 15844, this pair ranks #278,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of empiece vs empiecen
Shared letters: ceimp. Private to "empiece": -. Private to "empiecen": n.
"empiece" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV · "empiecen" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empiece" for "empiecen" ever safe?
Frequency check: "empiece" vs "empiecen" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empiece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empiecen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empiece" and "empiecen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empiece vs emplee". 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 #278,548 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.