empujavsempujanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,080
“empuja” frequency rank
#26,020
“empujan” frequency rank
41100
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empuja empujan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de empujar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de empujar.

Where the eye mixes empuja and empujan

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

6 ch
empuja
7 ch
empujan

Look-alike desk: empuja vs empujan

A purely visual mix-up. empuja ([ẽmˈpuxa]) and empujan ([ẽmˈpuxãn]) 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) - “empuja” sits inside “empujan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empuja is recorded at frequency rank #15,080, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈpuxa]. empujan is at rank #26,020, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈpuxãn].

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 41100, this pair ranks #155,510 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empuja vs empujan

Shared letters: aejmpu. Private to "empuja": -. Private to "empujan": n.

"empuja" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "empujan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empuja ← emmpuja · empjua · emppuja · empuaj · empujja · emupja · epmuja · mepuja
  • empujan ← emmpujan · empjuan · emppujan · empuajn · empujann · empujjan · empujna · emupjan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "empuja" and "empujan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmˈpuxa] versus [ẽmˈpuxãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empuja" or "empujan"?
"empuja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,080 in our Spanish list, against #26,020 for "empujan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "empuja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empujan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #155,510 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empuja" and "empujan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empujada vs empujan". 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 #155,510 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