Which to use
“enciende” and “encienden” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,399
- “enciende” frequency rank
- #27,583
- “encienden” frequency rank
- 38982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enciende | encienden |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de encender o de encenderse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de encender o de encenderse. |
Where the eye mixes enciende and encienden
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. enciende runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against encienden's 9 (VCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: enciende vs encienden
A purely visual mix-up. enciende ([ẽnˈsjẽn̪d̪e]) and encienden ([ẽnˈsjẽn̪d̪ẽn]) 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) - “enciende” sits inside “encienden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enciende is recorded at frequency rank #11,399, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽnˈsjẽn̪d̪e]. encienden is at rank #27,583, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽnˈsjẽn̪d̪ẽn].
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 38982, this pair ranks #167,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of enciende vs encienden
Shared letters: cdein. Private to "enciende": -. Private to "encienden": -.
"enciende" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV · "encienden" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enciende" and "encienden" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "enciende" vs "encienden" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "enciende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "encienden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enciende" and "encienden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encienden vs enciendo". 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 #167,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.