nacenvsnaciónWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nacen is a verb, nación is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nacen” is a verb and “nación” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,997
“nacen” frequency rank
#1,038
“nación” frequency rank
10035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nacen nación
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de nacer. Comunidad de personas que comparten un legado cultural, étnico o histórico.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
nacen
6 ch
nación

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nacen is [ˈnasẽn] while nación is [naˈsjõn]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10035, 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]. nación is at rank #1,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced [naˈsjõn].

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 10035, this pair ranks #300,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of nacen vs nación

Shared letters: acn. Private to "nacen": e. Private to "nación": .

"nacen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "nación" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nacenancen · naccen · nacenn · nacne · naecn · nasen · ncaen · nnacen

Frequency comparison

nacen#8,997
nación#1,038

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nacen" and "nación" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nacen" is a verb and "nación" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nacen" or "nación"?
"nación" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,038 in our Spanish list, against #8,997 for "nacen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering nacen vs nación

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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