empujanvsempujarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,020
“empujan” frequency rank
#14,129
“empujar” frequency rank
40149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empujan empujar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de empujar. Aplicar una fuerza para mover o detener algo o a alguien.

Where the eye mixes empujan and empujar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. empujan and empujar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
empujan
7 ch
empujar

Why the eye confuses empujan with empujar

A purely visual mix-up. empujan ([ẽmˈpuxãn]) and empujar ([ẽmpuˈxaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “empujan” becomes r in “empujar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empujan is recorded at frequency rank #26,020, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈpuxãn]. empujar is at rank #14,129, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽmpuˈxaɾ].

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 40149, this pair ranks #160,621 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of empujan vs empujar

Shared letters: aejmpu. Private to "empujan": n. Private to "empujar": r.

"empujan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "empujar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empujan ← emmpujan · empjuan · emppujan · empuajn · empujann · empujjan · empujna · emupjan
  • empujar ← emmpujar · empjuar · emppujar · empuajr · empujarr · empujjar · empujra · emupjar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "empujan" for "empujar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽmˈpuxãn] versus [ẽmpuˈxaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "empujan" or "empujar"?
"empujar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,129 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empujan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "empujar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #160,621 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empujan" and "empujar" 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 #160,621 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