imagenvsimagineWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#535
“imagen” frequency rank
#13,715
“imagine” frequency rank
14250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imagen imagine
Definition Representación visual de una cosa. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de imaginar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set imagen and imagine apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
imagen
7 ch
imagine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: imagen is [iˈmaxẽn] while imagine is [imaˈxine]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imagen is recorded at frequency rank #535, classified as anoun, pronounced [iˈmaxẽn]. imagine is at rank #13,715, tagged as averb, pronounced [imaˈxine].

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 14250, this pair ranks #284,854 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of imagen vs imagine

Shared letters: aegimn. Private to "imagen": -. Private to "imagine": -.

"imagen" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "imagine" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imageniamgen · imaegn · imagenn · imaggen · imagne · imgaen · immagen · miagen
  • imagineiamgine · imaggine · imagien · imaginne · imagnie · imaigne · imgaine · immagine

Frequency comparison

imagen#535
imagine#13,715

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "imagen" and "imagine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "imagen" is a noun and "imagine" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "imagen" or "imagine"?
"imagen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #535 in our Spanish list, against #13,715 for "imagine". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering imagen vs imagine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “imagen”; for a verb, it's “imagine”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “imagen” 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