fijarsevsfugarseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,967
“fijarse” frequency rank
#39,769
“fugarse” frequency rank
57736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fijarse fugarse
Definition Prestar atención a algo. Salir o alejarse, generalmente deprisa o sin ser notado, de algún encierro, persecución, peligro, opresión o situación indeseable.

Where the eye mixes fijarse and fugarse

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

7 ch
fijarse
7 ch
fugarse

Look-alike desk: fijarse vs fugarse

A purely visual mix-up. fijarse ([fiˈxaɾse]) and fugarse ([fuˈɣ̞aɾse]) 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 57736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fijarse is recorded at frequency rank #17,967, classified as averb, pronounced [fiˈxaɾse]. fugarse is at rank #39,769, tagged as averb, pronounced [fuˈɣ̞aɾse].

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 57736, this pair ranks #69,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fijarse vs fugarse

Shared letters: aefrs. Private to "fijarse": ij. Private to "fugarse": gu.

"fijarse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "fugarse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fijarse ← ffijarse · fiajrse · fijarce · fijares · fijarrse · fijarsse · fijasre · fijjarse
  • fugarse ← ffugarse · fguarse · fuagrse · fugarce · fugares · fugarrse · fugarsse · fugasre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fijarse" and "fugarse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([fiˈxaɾse] versus [fuˈɣ̞aɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fijarse" vs "fugarse" - which ranks higher?
"fijarse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,967 in our Spanish list, against #39,769 for "fugarse". 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 "fijarse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fugarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,308 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fijarse" and "fugarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fiarse vs fugarse". 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 #69,308 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