investiganvsinvestiguenConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,737
“investigan” frequency rank
#24,540
“investiguen” frequency rank
42277
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature investigan investiguen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de investigar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de investigar.

Where the eye mixes investigan and investiguen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. investigan runs 10 letters (VCCVCCVCVC) against investiguen's 11 (VCCVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
investigan
11 ch
investiguen

Visual trap between investigan and investiguen

A purely visual mix-up. investigan ([ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ãn]) and investiguen ([ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ẽn]) 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 42277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

investigan is recorded at frequency rank #17,737, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ãn]. investiguen is at rank #24,540, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ẽn].

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 42277, this pair ranks #149,123 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of investigan vs investiguen

Shared letters: eginstv. Private to "investigan": a. Private to "investiguen": u.

"investigan" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "investiguen" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • investigan ← inbestigan · inevstigan · innvestigan · invesitgan · invesstigan · investgian · investiagn · investigann
  • investiguen ← inbestiguen · inevstiguen · innvestiguen · invesitguen · invesstiguen · investgiuen · investigeun · investigguen

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "investigan" for "investiguen" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ãn] versus [ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "investigan" or "investiguen" show up more?
"investigan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,737 in our Spanish list, against #24,540 for "investiguen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "investigan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "investiguen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #149,123 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "investigan" and "investiguen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "investigué vs investiguen". 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 #149,123 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