encendervsentendésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,840
“encender” frequency rank
#41,886
“entendés” frequency rank
52726
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encender entendés
Definition Iniciar una combustión. Segunda persona del singular (vos) del presente de indicativo de entender o de entenderse.

Where the eye mixes encender and entendés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. encender and entendés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
encender
8 ch
entendés

Visual trap between encender and entendés

A purely visual mix-up. encender ([ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]) and entendés ([ẽn̪t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪es]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encender is recorded at frequency rank #10,840, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. entendés is at rank #41,886, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽn̪t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪es].

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 52726, this pair ranks #91,327 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encender vs entendés

Shared letters: den. Private to "encender": cr. Private to "entendés": sté.

"encender" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "entendés" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encender ← ecnender · enccender · encedner · encendder · encenderr · encendre · encenedr · encennder

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "encender" for "entendés" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ẽnsẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] versus [ẽn̪t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "encender" vs "entendés" - which ranks higher?
"encender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,840 in our Spanish list, against #41,886 for "entendés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "encender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "entendés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #91,327 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encender" and "entendés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entendéis vs entendés". 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 #91,327 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