Which to use
“empujar” is a verb and “empujón” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,129
- “empujar” frequency rank
- #21,653
- “empujón” frequency rank
- 35782
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empujar | empujón |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aplicar una fuerza para mover o detener algo o a alguien. | Impulso fuerte para desplazar o apartar a una persona o una cosa. |
Where the eye mixes empujar and empujón
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. empujar and empujón follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses empujar with empujón
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empujar is [ẽmpuˈxaɾ] while empujón is [ẽmpuˈxõn]. 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 35782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empujar is recorded at frequency rank #14,129, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmpuˈxaɾ]. empujón is at rank #21,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ẽmpuˈxõn].
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 35782, this pair ranks #184,198 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empujar vs empujón
Shared letters: ejmpu. Private to "empujar": ar. Private to "empujón": nó.
"empujar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "empujón" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- empujar ← emmpujar · empjuar · emppujar · empuajr · empujarr · empujjar · empujra · emupjar
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empujar" for "empujón" ever safe?
Frequency check: "empujar" vs "empujón" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "empujar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empujón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,198 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empujar" and "empujón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empujo vs empujón". 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 #184,198 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.