Which to use
“not” is an adverb and “notan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,708
- “not” frequency rank
- #17,499
- “notan” frequency rank
- 24207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | not | notan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | No. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de notar. |
Where the eye mixes not and notan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: not vs notan
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: not is /nɒt/ while notan is [ˈnot̪ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “not” sits inside “notan”, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
not is recorded at frequency rank #6,708, classified as anadv, pronounced /nɒt/. notan is at rank #17,499, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈnot̪ãn].
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 24207, this pair ranks #242,247 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of not vs notan
Shared letters: not. Private to "not": -. Private to "notan": a.
"not" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "notan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- notan ← nnotan · noatn · notann · notna · nottan · ntoan · ontan
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "not" for "notan" ever safe?
Frequency check: "not" vs "notan" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "not" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "notan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,247 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "not" and "notan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nadan vs notan". 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 #242,247 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.