gobiernenvsgobiernoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gobiernen is a verb, gobierno is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gobiernen” is a verb and “gobierno” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,041
“gobiernen” frequency rank
#132
“gobierno” frequency rank
49173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gobiernen gobierno
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de gobernar o de gobernarse. Acción o efecto de gobernar.

Where the eye mixes gobiernen and gobierno

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gobiernen runs 9 letters (CVCVVCCVC) against gobierno's 8 (CVCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
gobiernen
8 ch
gobierno

Look-alike desk: gobiernen vs gobierno

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gobiernen is [goˈβ̞jeɾnẽn] while gobierno is [goˈβ̞jeɾno]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gobiernen is recorded at frequency rank #49,041, classified as averb, pronounced [goˈβ̞jeɾnẽn]. gobierno is at rank #132, tagged as anoun, pronounced [goˈβ̞jeɾno].

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 49173, this pair ranks #110,321 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gobiernen vs gobierno

Shared letters: beginor. Private to "gobiernen": -. Private to "gobierno": -.

"gobiernen" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "gobierno" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gobiernen ← gboiernen · ggobiernen · gobbiernen · gobeirnen · gobienren · gobierenn · gobiernenn · gobiernnen
  • gobierno ← gboierno · ggobierno · gobbierno · gobeirno · gobienro · gobiernno · gobieron · gobierrno

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gobiernen" and "gobierno" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gobiernen" is a verb and "gobierno" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "gobiernen" vs "gobierno" - which ranks higher?
"gobierno" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #132 in our Spanish list, against #49,041 for "gobiernen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "gobiernen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gobierno" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,321 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gobiernen" and "gobierno" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gobierne vs gobiernen". 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 #110,321 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