guanvsguysWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,044
“guan” frequency rank
#32,690
“guys” frequency rank
81734
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature guan guys
Definition (Cracidae) Aves gallináceas del Nuevo Mundo de los géneros Aburria, Chamaepetes, Oreophasis, Penelope, Penelopina y Pipile, de la subfamilia Penelopinae. Sobre todo la Penelope purpurascens. Forma del plural de guy ('tipos').

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set guan and guys apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
guan
4 ch
guys

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. guan ([ˈgwãn]) and guys (/ɡaɪz/) 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 81734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

guan is recorded at frequency rank #49,044, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈgwãn]. guys is at rank #32,690, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɡaɪz/.

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 81734, this pair ranks #10,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of guan vs guys

Shared letters: gu. Private to "guan": an. Private to "guys": sy.

"guan" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "guys" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • guangaun · gguan · guann · guna · ugan
  • guysgguys · gusy · guyss · guyys · gyus · ugys

Frequency comparison

guan#49,044
guys#32,690

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "guan" and "guys" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgwãn] versus /ɡaɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "guan" or "guys"?
"guys" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,690 in our Spanish list, against #49,044 for "guan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering guan vs guys

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “guan” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list