llevanvsllevarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,515
“llevan” frequency rank
#612
“llevar” frequency rank
2127
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llevan llevar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de llevar o de llevarse. Trasladar algo o a alguien desde un lugar hacia otro separado en el espacio.

Where the eye mixes llevan and llevar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
llevan
6 ch
llevar

Why the eye confuses llevan with llevar

A purely visual mix-up. llevan ([ˈʝeβ̞ãn]) and llevar ([ʝeˈβ̞aɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “llevan” becomes r in “llevar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llevan is recorded at frequency rank #1,515, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʝeβ̞ãn]. llevar is at rank #612, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈβ̞aɾ].

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 2127, this pair ranks #320,919 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of llevan vs llevar

Shared letters: aelv. Private to "llevan": n. Private to "llevar": r.

"llevan" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "llevar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • llevanlelvan · levan · lleavn · lleban · llevann · llevna · llevvan · llvean
  • llevarlelvar · levar · lleavr · llebar · llevarr · llevra · llevvar · llvear

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "llevan" and "llevar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʝeβ̞ãn] versus [ʝeˈβ̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "llevan" or "llevar"?
"llevar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #612 in our Spanish list, against #1,515 for "llevan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "llevan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "llevar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,919 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "llevan" and "llevar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llevar vs llevarás". 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 #320,919 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