funcionavsfuncionanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,291
“funciona” frequency rank
#4,605
“funcionan” frequency rank
5896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature funciona funcionan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de funcionar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de funcionar.

Where the eye mixes funciona and funcionan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
funciona
9 ch
funcionan

Visual trap between funciona and funcionan

A purely visual mix-up. funciona ([fũnˈsjona]) and funcionan ([fũnˈsjonãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “funciona” sits inside “funcionan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

funciona is recorded at frequency rank #1,291, classified as averb, pronounced [fũnˈsjona]. funcionan is at rank #4,605, tagged as averb, pronounced [fũnˈsjonãn].

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 5896, this pair ranks #312,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of funciona vs funcionan

Shared letters: acfinou. Private to "funciona": -. Private to "funcionan": -.

"funciona" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "funcionan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • funcionaffunciona · fnuciona · fucniona · funcciona · funcinoa · funcioan · funcionna · funcoina
  • funcionanffuncionan · fnucionan · fucnionan · funccionan · funcinoan · funcioann · funcionann · funcionnan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "funciona" for "funcionan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fũnˈsjona] versus [fũnˈsjonãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "funciona" vs "funcionan" - which ranks higher?
"funciona" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,291 in our Spanish list, against #4,605 for "funcionan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "funciona" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "funcionan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #312,367 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "funciona" and "funcionan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "funcionan vs fusionan". 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 #312,367 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