preocupavspreocupanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,682
“preocupa” frequency rank
#8,855
“preocupan” frequency rank
11537
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preocupa preocupan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preocupar o de preocuparse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preocupar o de preocuparse.

Where the eye mixes preocupa and preocupan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. preocupa runs 8 letters (CCVVCVCV) against preocupan's 9 (CCVVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
preocupa
9 ch
preocupan

Visual trap between preocupa and preocupan

A purely visual mix-up. preocupa ([pɾeoˈkupa]) and preocupan ([pɾeoˈkupãn]) 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) - “preocupa” sits inside “preocupan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preocupa is recorded at frequency rank #2,682, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeoˈkupa]. preocupan is at rank #8,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeoˈkupãn].

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 11537, this pair ranks #294,747 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of preocupa vs preocupan

Shared letters: aceopru. Private to "preocupa": -. Private to "preocupan": n.

"preocupa" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCV  ·  "preocupan" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • preocupa ← perocupa · ppreocupa · precoupa · preoccupa · preocpua · preocuap · preocuppa · preoucpa
  • preocupan ← perocupan · ppreocupan · precoupan · preoccupan · preocpuan · preocuapn · preocupann · preocupna

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "preocupa" and "preocupan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeoˈkupa] versus [pɾeoˈkupãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "preocupa" or "preocupan"?
"preocupa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,682 in our Spanish list, against #8,855 for "preocupan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "preocupa" and "preocupan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "preocupa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "preocupan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #294,747 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preocupa" and "preocupan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preocupan vs procuran". 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 #294,747 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