Which to use
“preguntan” and “pregunté” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,640
- “preguntan” frequency rank
- #5,425
- “pregunté” frequency rank
- 10065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | preguntan | pregunté |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preguntar o de preguntarse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de preguntar. |
Where the eye mixes preguntan and pregunté
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. preguntan runs 9 letters (CCVCVCCVC) against pregunté's 8 (CCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses preguntan with pregunté
A purely visual mix-up. preguntan ([pɾeˈɣ̞ũn̪t̪ãn]) and pregunté ([pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪e]) 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 10065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
preguntan is recorded at frequency rank #4,640, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈɣ̞ũn̪t̪ãn]. pregunté is at rank #5,425, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeɣ̞ũn̪ˈt̪e].
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 10065, this pair ranks #299,939 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of preguntan vs pregunté
Shared letters: egnprtu. Private to "preguntan": a. Private to "pregunté": é.
"preguntan" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "pregunté" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- preguntan ← perguntan · ppreguntan · pregguntan · pregnutan · pregunatn · pregunntan · preguntann · preguntna
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "preguntan" and "pregunté" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "preguntan" vs "pregunté" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "preguntan" and "pregunté" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "preguntan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pregunté" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,939 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "preguntan" and "pregunté" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preguntan vs preguntarán". 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 #299,939 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.