fallanvsfaltarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,965
“fallan” frequency rank
#7,023
“faltar” frequency rank
24988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fallan faltar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de fallar. No estar en un sitio.

Where the eye mixes fallan and faltar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fallan and faltar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
fallan
6 ch
faltar

Why the eye confuses fallan with faltar

A purely visual mix-up. fallan ([ˈfaʝãn]) and faltar ([fal̪ˈt̪aɾ]) 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 24988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fallan is recorded at frequency rank #17,965, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfaʝãn]. faltar is at rank #7,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [fal̪ˈt̪aɾ].

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 24988, this pair ranks #238,526 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fallan vs faltar

Shared letters: afl. Private to "fallan": n. Private to "faltar": rt.

"fallan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "faltar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fallan ← afllan · falaln · falan · fallann · fallna · ffallan · flalan
  • faltar ← afltar · falatr · falltar · faltarr · faltra · falttar · fatlar · ffaltar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fallan" and "faltar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfaʝãn] versus [fal̪ˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fallan" or "faltar"?
"faltar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,023 in our Spanish list, against #17,965 for "fallan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "fallan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "faltar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #238,526 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fallan" and "faltar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fallaba vs fallan". 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 #238,526 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