existanvsexistesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,453
“existan” frequency rank
#34,579
“existes” frequency rank
44032
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature existan existes
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de existir. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de existir.

Where the eye mixes existan and existes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
existan
7 ch
existes

Visual trap between existan and existes

A purely visual mix-up. existan ([ekˈsist̪ãn]) and existes ([ekˈsist̪es]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

existan is recorded at frequency rank #9,453, classified as averb, pronounced [ekˈsist̪ãn]. existes is at rank #34,579, tagged as averb, pronounced [ekˈsist̪es].

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 44032, this pair ranks #139,314 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of existan vs existes

Shared letters: eistx. Private to "existan": an. Private to "existes": -.

"existan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "existes" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • existaneixstan · exisatn · exisstan · existann · existna · existtan · exitsan · exsitan
  • existeseixstes · exisets · exisstes · existess · existse · existtes · exitses · exsites

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "existan" for "existes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ekˈsist̪ãn] versus [ekˈsist̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "existan" or "existes"?
"existan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,453 in our Spanish list, against #34,579 for "existes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "existan" and "existes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "existan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "existes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #139,314 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "existan" and "existes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "existes vs existiese". 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 #139,314 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