lloranvsLloronaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: lloran is a verb, Llorona is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lloran” is a verb and “Llorona” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,736
“lloran” frequency rank
#33,205
“Llorona” frequency rank
46941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lloran Llorona
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de llorar. En la mitología de varias culturas hispanoamericanas, es el alma en pena de una mujer que ahogó a sus hijos, y que luego, arrepentida y maldecida, los busca por las noches por ríos, pueblos y ciudades, asustando con su sobrecogedor llanto a quienes la ven u oyen.

Where the eye mixes lloran and Llorona

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

6 ch
lloran
7 ch
Llorona

Why the eye confuses lloran with Llorona

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lloran is [ˈʝoɾãn] while Llorona is [ʝoˈɾona]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lloran is recorded at frequency rank #13,736, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʝoɾãn]. Llorona is at rank #33,205, tagged as aname, pronounced [ʝoˈɾona].

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 46941, this pair ranks #122,874 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lloran vs Llorona

Shared letters: alnor. Private to "lloran": -. Private to "Llorona": -.

"lloran" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "Llorona" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lloranlloarn · llorann · llorna · llorran · llroan · lolran · loran
  • Lloronalloorna · llornoa · lloroan · lloronna · llorrona · llroona · lolrona · lorona

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lloran" and "Llorona" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lloran" is a verb and "Llorona" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lloran" or "Llorona" show up more?
"lloran" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,736 in our Spanish list, against #33,205 for "Llorona". 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 "lloran" and "Llorona" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lloran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Llorona" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,874 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lloran" and "Llorona" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Llarena vs Llorona". 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 #122,874 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