olvidanvsolvidasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,720
“olvidan” frequency rank
#13,528
“olvidas” frequency rank
24248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature olvidan olvidas
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de olvidar o de olvidarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de olvidar o de olvidarse.

Where the eye mixes olvidan and olvidas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. olvidan and olvidas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
olvidan
7 ch
olvidas

Why the eye confuses olvidan with olvidas

A purely visual mix-up. olvidan ([olˈβ̞ið̞ãn]) and olvidas ([olˈβ̞ið̞as]) 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 s in “olvidas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24248, 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]. olvidas is at rank #13,528, tagged as averb, pronounced [olˈβ̞ið̞as].

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 24248, this pair ranks #242,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of olvidan vs olvidas

Shared letters: adilov. Private to "olvidan": n. Private to "olvidas": s.

"olvidan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "olvidas" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • olvidan ← lovidan · olbidan · olivdan · ollvidan · olvdian · olviadn · olvidann · olviddan
  • olvidas ← lovidas · olbidas · olivdas · ollvidas · olvdias · olviads · olvidass · olviddas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "olvidan" and "olvidas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([olˈβ̞ið̞ãn] versus [olˈβ̞ið̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "olvidan" or "olvidas" show up more?
"olvidan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,720 in our Spanish list, against #13,528 for "olvidas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "olvidan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "olvidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #242,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "olvidan" and "olvidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oídas vs olvidas". 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 #242,036 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