guíanvsgustanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,237
“guían” frequency rank
#1,547
“gustan” frequency rank
33784
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature guían gustan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de guiar o de guiarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de gustar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set guían and gustan apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
guían
6 ch
gustan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. guían ([ˈgiãn]) and gustan ([ˈgust̪ãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

guían is recorded at frequency rank #32,237, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈgiãn]. gustan is at rank #1,547, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈgust̪ãn].

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 33784, this pair ranks #194,911 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of guían vs gustan

Shared letters: agnu. Private to "guían": í. Private to "gustan": st.

"guían" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "gustan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gustanggustan · gsutan · gusatn · gusstan · gustann · gustna · gusttan · gutsan

Frequency comparison

guían#32,237
gustan#1,547

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "guían" and "gustan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈgiãn] versus [ˈgust̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "guían" or "gustan"?
"gustan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,547 in our Spanish list, against #32,237 for "guían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering guían vs gustan

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 “guían” 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