quedavsquejanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: queda is a noun, quejan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“queda” is a noun and “quejan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#437
“queda” frequency rank
#8,170
“quejan” frequency rank
8607
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queda quejan
Definition Hora de la noche, señalada en algunos pueblos, especialmente las plazas cerradas, para que todos se recojan, lo cual se avisa con la campana. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de quejar o de quejarse.

Where the eye mixes queda and quejan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
queda
6 ch
quejan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: queda is [ˈkeð̞a] while quejan is [ˈkexãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

queda is recorded at frequency rank #437, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkeð̞a]. quejan is at rank #8,170, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkexãn].

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 8607, this pair ranks #304,505 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of queda vs quejan

Shared letters: aequ. Private to "queda": d. Private to "quejan": jn.

"queda" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "quejan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quedaqeuda · qqueda · qudea · quead · quedda · uqeda
  • quejanqeujan · qquejan · queajn · quejann · quejjan · quejna · qujean · uqejan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "queda" and "quejan" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "queda" is a noun and "quejan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "queda" or "quejan"?
"queda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #437 in our Spanish list, against #8,170 for "quejan". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list