prometenvsprotegenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,940
“prometen” frequency rank
#12,905
“protegen” frequency rank
28845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prometen protegen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de prometer o de prometerse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de proteger.

Where the eye mixes prometen and protegen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
prometen
8 ch
protegen

Visual trap between prometen and protegen

A purely visual mix-up. prometen ([pɾoˈmet̪ẽn]) and protegen ([pɾoˈt̪exẽn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prometen is recorded at frequency rank #15,940, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈmet̪ẽn]. protegen is at rank #12,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈt̪exẽn].

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 28845, this pair ranks #219,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prometen vs protegen

Shared letters: enoprt. Private to "prometen": m. Private to "protegen": g.

"prometen" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "protegen" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prometenpormeten · pprometen · prmoeten · proemten · promeetn · prometenn · prometne · prometten
  • protegenportegen · pprotegen · proetgen · proteegn · protegenn · proteggen · protegne · protgeen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prometen" and "protegen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoˈmet̪ẽn] versus [pɾoˈt̪exẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "prometen" vs "protegen" - which ranks higher?
"protegen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,905 in our Spanish list, against #15,940 for "prometen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prometen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "protegen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #219,943 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prometen" and "protegen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prometen vs prometio". 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 #219,943 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