flotanvsflotarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#38,714
“flotan” frequency rank
#30,084
“flotar” frequency rank
68798
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flotan flotar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de flotar. Sostenerse sin el sustento de un medio sólido, sea sobre un líquido, un gas o en el vacío.

Where the eye mixes flotan and flotar

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

6 ch
flotan
6 ch
flotar

Look-alike desk: flotan vs flotar

A purely visual mix-up. flotan ([ˈflot̪ãn]) and flotar ([floˈt̪aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “flotan” becomes r in “flotar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flotan is recorded at frequency rank #38,714, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈflot̪ãn]. flotar is at rank #30,084, tagged as averb, pronounced [floˈt̪aɾ].

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 68798, this pair ranks #33,584 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flotan vs flotar

Shared letters: aflot. Private to "flotan": n. Private to "flotar": r.

"flotan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "flotar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flotanfflotan · fllotan · floatn · flotann · flotna · flottan · fltoan · foltan
  • flotarfflotar · fllotar · floatr · flotarr · flotra · flottar · fltoar · foltar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "flotan" for "flotar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈflot̪ãn] versus [floˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "flotan" vs "flotar" - which ranks higher?
"flotar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,084 in our Spanish list, against #38,714 for "flotan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "flotan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "flotar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,584 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "flotan" and "flotar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "flojas vs flotan". 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 #33,584 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