precedevsprecedenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,767
“precede” frequency rank
#48,005
“preceden” frequency rank
73772
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature precede preceden
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preceder. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preceder.

Where the eye mixes precede and preceden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
precede
8 ch
preceden

Visual trap between precede and preceden

A purely visual mix-up. precede ([pɾeˈseð̞e]) and preceden ([pɾeˈseð̞ẽn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “precede” sits inside “preceden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

precede is recorded at frequency rank #25,767, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈseð̞e]. preceden is at rank #48,005, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈseð̞ẽn].

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 73772, this pair ranks #22,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of precede vs preceden

Shared letters: cdepr. Private to "precede": -. Private to "preceden": n.

"precede" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "preceden" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • precedepercede · pprecede · prceede · preccede · precdee · precedde · preceed · preecde
  • precedenperceden · ppreceden · prceeden · precceden · precdeen · precedden · precedenn · precedne

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "precede" and "preceden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈseð̞e] versus [pɾeˈseð̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "precede" or "preceden"?
"precede" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,767 in our Spanish list, against #48,005 for "preceden". 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 "precede" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "preceden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "precede" and "preceden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preceden vs presiden". 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 #22,623 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