negarvsnieganTell them apart

Which to use

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

#4,531
“negar” frequency rank
#9,161
“niegan” frequency rank
13692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature negar niegan
Definition Decir no, respondiendo a una pregunta. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de negar o de negarse.

Where the eye mixes negar and niegan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
negar
6 ch
niegan

Look-alike desk: negar vs niegan

A purely visual mix-up. negar ([neˈɣ̞aɾ]) and niegan ([ˈnjeɣ̞ãn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

negar is recorded at frequency rank #4,531, classified as averb, pronounced [neˈɣ̞aɾ]. niegan is at rank #9,161, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnjeɣ̞ãn].

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 13692, this pair ranks #286,892 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of negar vs niegan

Shared letters: aegn. Private to "negar": r. Private to "niegan": i.

"negar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "niegan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • negarengar · neagr · negarr · neggar · ngear · nnegar
  • nieganinegan · neigan · nieagn · niegann · nieggan · niegna · nigean · nniegan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "negar" and "niegan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([neˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [ˈnjeɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "negar" or "niegan"?
"negar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,531 in our Spanish list, against #9,161 for "niegan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "negar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "niegan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,892 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "negar" and "niegan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "niegan vs nietas". 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 #286,892 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