Which to use
“leían” and “llevan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,830
- “leían” frequency rank
- #1,515
- “llevan” frequency rank
- 46345
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leían | llevan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de leer. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de llevar o de llevarse. |
Where the eye mixes leían and llevan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leían runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against llevan's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leían with llevan
A purely visual mix-up. leían ([leˈiãn]) and llevan ([ˈʝeβ̞ãn]) 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 46345, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leían is recorded at frequency rank #44,830, classified as averb, pronounced [leˈiãn]. llevan is at rank #1,515, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈʝeβ̞ãn].
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 46345, this pair ranks #126,269 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leían vs llevan
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "leían": í. Private to "llevan": v.
"leían" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "llevan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- llevan ← lelvan · levan · lleavn · lleban · llevann · llevna · llevvan · llvean
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leían" for "llevan" ever safe?
Which is more common, "leían" or "llevan"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "leían" and "llevan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "llevan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #126,269 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leían" and "llevan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leían vs lucían". 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 #126,269 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.