nacenvsnacesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,997
“nacen” frequency rank
#47,276
“naces” frequency rank
56273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nacen naces
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de nacer. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de nacer.

Where the eye mixes nacen and naces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. nacen and naces follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
nacen
5 ch
naces

Why the eye confuses nacen with naces

A purely visual mix-up. nacen ([ˈnasẽn]) and naces ([ˈnases]) 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 “nacen” becomes s in “naces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nacen is recorded at frequency rank #8,997, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnasẽn]. naces is at rank #47,276, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnases].

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 56273, this pair ranks #75,306 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of nacen vs naces

Shared letters: acen. Private to "nacen": -. Private to "naces": s.

"nacen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "naces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nacen ← ancen · naccen · nacenn · nacne · naecn · nasen · ncaen · nnacen
  • naces ← ances · nacces · nacess · nacse · naecs · nases · ncaes · nnaces

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "nacen" for "naces" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnasẽn] versus [ˈnases]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "nacen" or "naces"?
"nacen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,997 in our Spanish list, against #47,276 for "naces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "nacen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "naces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,306 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nacen" and "naces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "naces vs nacos". 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 #75,306 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