guardevsguardenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,262
“guarde” frequency rank
#20,061
“guarden” frequency rank
33323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature guarde guarden
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de guardar o de guardarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de guardar o de guardarse.

Where the eye mixes guarde and guarden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. guarde runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against guarden's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
guarde
7 ch
guarden

Why the eye confuses guarde with guarden

A purely visual mix-up. guarde ([ˈgwaɾð̞e]) and guarden ([ˈgwaɾð̞ẽn]) 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) - “guarde” sits inside “guarden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

guarde is recorded at frequency rank #13,262, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgwaɾð̞e]. guarden is at rank #20,061, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈgwaɾð̞ẽn].

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 33323, this pair ranks #197,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of guarde vs guarden

Shared letters: adegru. Private to "guarde": -. Private to "guarden": n.

"guarde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "guarden" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • guarde ← gaurde · gguarde · guadre · guardde · guared · guarrde · gurade · ugarde
  • guarden ← gaurden · gguarden · guadren · guardden · guardenn · guardne · guaredn · guarrden

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "guarde" and "guarden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgwaɾð̞e] versus [ˈgwaɾð̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "guarde" or "guarden"?
"guarde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,262 in our Spanish list, against #20,061 for "guarden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "guarde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "guarden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #197,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "guarde" and "guarden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gardens vs guarden". 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 #197,371 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