interfierenvsintervienenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#44,260
“interfieren” frequency rank
#15,880
“intervienen” frequency rank
60140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature interfieren intervienen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de interferir. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de intervenir.

Where the eye mixes interfieren and intervienen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. interfieren and intervienen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
interfieren
11 ch
intervienen

Visual trap between interfieren and intervienen

A purely visual mix-up. interfieren ([ĩn̪t̪eɾˈfjeɾẽn]) and intervienen ([ĩn̪t̪eɾˈβ̞jenẽn]) 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 60140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

interfieren is recorded at frequency rank #44,260, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪t̪eɾˈfjeɾẽn]. intervienen is at rank #15,880, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩn̪t̪eɾˈβ̞jenẽn].

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 60140, this pair ranks #60,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of interfieren vs intervienen

Shared letters: einrt. Private to "interfieren": f. Private to "intervienen": v.

"interfieren" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC  ·  "intervienen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • interfieren ← inetrfieren · innterfieren · intefrieren · interfeiren · interffieren · interfieern · interfierenn · interfierne
  • intervienen ← inetrvienen · inntervienen · interbienen · interivenen · interrvienen · interveinen · intervieenn · intervienenn

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "interfieren" for "intervienen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩn̪t̪eɾˈfjeɾẽn] versus [ĩn̪t̪eɾˈβ̞jenẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "interfieren" or "intervienen" show up more?
"intervienen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,880 in our Spanish list, against #44,260 for "interfieren". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "interfieren" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "intervienen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "interfieren" and "intervienen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "interfiere vs interfieren". 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 #60,004 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