enseñanvsenseñéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,946
“enseñan” frequency rank
#38,676
“enseñé” frequency rank
47622
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enseñan enseñé
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de enseñar o de enseñarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de enseñar o de enseñarse.

Where the eye mixes enseñan and enseñé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. enseñan runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against enseñé's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
enseñan
6 ch
enseñé

Why the eye confuses enseñan with enseñé

A purely visual mix-up. enseñan ([ẽnˈseɲãn]) and enseñé ([ẽnseˈɲe]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enseñan is recorded at frequency rank #8,946, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽnˈseɲãn]. enseñé is at rank #38,676, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽnseˈɲe].

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 47622, this pair ranks #119,041 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of enseñan vs enseñé

Shared letters: ensñ. Private to "enseñan": a. Private to "enseñé": é.

"enseñan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "enseñé" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enseñan" and "enseñé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ẽnˈseɲãn] versus [ẽnseˈɲe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "enseñan" or "enseñé"?
"enseñan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,946 in our Spanish list, against #38,676 for "enseñé". 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 "enseñan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enseñé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #119,041 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enseñan" and "enseñé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enseñaré vs enseñé". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #119,041 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