mientenvsmientesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,645
“mienten” frequency rank
#21,406
“mientes” frequency rank
34051
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mienten mientes
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de mentir. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de mentir.

Where the eye mixes mienten and mientes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. mienten and mientes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
mienten
7 ch
mientes

Why the eye confuses mienten with mientes

A purely visual mix-up. mienten ([ˈmjẽn̪t̪ẽn]) and mientes ([ˈmjẽn̪t̪es]) 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 “mienten” becomes s in “mientes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34051, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mienten is recorded at frequency rank #12,645, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈmjẽn̪t̪ẽn]. mientes is at rank #21,406, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈmjẽn̪t̪es].

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 34051, this pair ranks #193,492 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mienten vs mientes

Shared letters: eimnt. Private to "mienten": -. Private to "mientes": s.

"mienten" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "mientes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mienten ← imenten · meinten · mienetn · miennten · mientenn · mientne · mientten · mietnen
  • mientes ← imentes · meintes · mienets · mienntes · mientess · mientse · mienttes · mietnes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mienten" and "mientes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈmjẽn̪t̪ẽn] versus [ˈmjẽn̪t̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mienten" or "mientes"?
"mienten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,645 in our Spanish list, against #21,406 for "mientes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mienten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mientes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #193,492 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mienten" and "mientes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mientes vs minutes". 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 #193,492 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