Which to use
“olvidan” and “olvidar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,720
- “olvidan” frequency rank
- #2,516
- “olvidar” frequency rank
- 13236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | olvidan | olvidar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de olvidar o de olvidarse. | Perder el recuerdo o la memoria de algo. |
Where the eye mixes olvidan and olvidar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses olvidan with olvidar
A purely visual mix-up. olvidan ([olˈβ̞ið̞ãn]) and olvidar ([olβ̞iˈð̞aɾ]) 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 “olvidan” becomes r in “olvidar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
olvidan is recorded at frequency rank #10,720, classified as averb, pronounced [olˈβ̞ið̞ãn]. olvidar is at rank #2,516, tagged as averb, pronounced [olβ̞iˈð̞aɾ].
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 13236, this pair ranks #288,590 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of olvidan vs olvidar
Shared letters: adilov. Private to "olvidan": n. Private to "olvidar": r.
"olvidan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "olvidar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "olvidan" and "olvidar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "olvidan" or "olvidar"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "olvidan" and "olvidar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "olvidan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "olvidar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,590 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "olvidan" and "olvidar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "olvidan vs olvidarán". 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 #288,590 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.