lleganvsllegandoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,737
“llegan” frequency rank
#2,569
“llegando” frequency rank
4306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llegan llegando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de llegar o de llegarse. Gerundio de llegar.

Where the eye mixes llegan and llegando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. llegan runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against llegando's 8 (CCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
llegan
8 ch
llegando

Visual trap between llegan and llegando

A purely visual mix-up. llegan ([ˈʝeɣ̞ãn]) and llegando ([ʝeˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “llegan” sits inside “llegando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llegan is recorded at frequency rank #1,737, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʝeɣ̞ãn]. llegando is at rank #2,569, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o].

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 4306, this pair ranks #316,408 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of llegan vs llegando

Shared letters: aegln. Private to "llegan": -. Private to "llegando": do.

"llegan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "llegando" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llegan ← legan · lelgan · lleagn · llegann · lleggan · llegna · llgean
  • llegando ← legando · lelgando · lleagndo · llegadno · lleganddo · lleganndo · lleganod · lleggando

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "llegan" and "llegando" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʝeɣ̞ãn] versus [ʝeˈɣ̞ãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "llegan" or "llegando"?
"llegan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,737 in our Spanish list, against #2,569 for "llegando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "llegan" and "llegando" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "llegan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "llegando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #316,408 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llegan" and "llegando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llegan vs llegasen". 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 #316,408 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