lleganvsllenaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: llegan is a verb, llena is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“llegan” is a verb and “llena” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,737
“llegan” frequency rank
#1,642
“llena” frequency rank
3379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llegan llena
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de llegar o de llegarse. Forma del femenino singular de lleno.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set llegan and llena apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
llegan
5 ch
llena

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: llegan is [ˈʝeɣ̞ãn] while llena is [ˈʝena]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3379, 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]. llena is at rank #1,642, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈʝena].

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 3379, this pair ranks #318,435 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of llegan vs llena

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "llegan": g. Private to "llena": -.

"llegan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "llena" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lleganlegan · lelgan · lleagn · llegann · lleggan · llegna · llgean
  • llenalelna · llean · llenna · llnea

Frequency comparison

llegan#1,737
llena#1,642

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "llegan" and "llena" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "llegan" is a verb and "llena" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "llegan" or "llena"?
"llena" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,642 in our Spanish list, against #1,737 for "llegan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering llegan vs llena

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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