nieganvsnieguenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,161
“niegan” frequency rank
#34,235
“nieguen” frequency rank
43396
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature niegan nieguen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de negar o de negarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de negar o de negarse.

Where the eye mixes niegan and nieguen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. niegan runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against nieguen's 7 (CVVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
niegan
7 ch
nieguen

Why the eye confuses niegan with nieguen

A purely visual mix-up. niegan ([ˈnjeɣ̞ãn]) and nieguen ([ˈnjeɣ̞ẽn]) 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 43396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

niegan is recorded at frequency rank #9,161, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈnjeɣ̞ãn]. nieguen is at rank #34,235, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnjeɣ̞ẽn].

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 43396, this pair ranks #142,869 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of niegan vs nieguen

Shared letters: egin. Private to "niegan": a. Private to "nieguen": u.

"niegan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "nieguen" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • niegan ← inegan · neigan · nieagn · niegann · nieggan · niegna · nigean · nniegan
  • nieguen ← ineguen · neiguen · niegeun · niegguen · nieguenn · niegune · nieugen · nigeuen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "niegan" and "nieguen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈnjeɣ̞ãn] versus [ˈnjeɣ̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "niegan" vs "nieguen" - which ranks higher?
"niegan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,161 in our Spanish list, against #34,235 for "nieguen". 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 "niegan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "nieguen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #142,869 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "niegan" and "nieguen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nieguen vs niegues". 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 #142,869 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