quedarvsquejarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,587
“quedar” frequency rank
#18,952
“quejar” frequency rank
20539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quedar quejar
Definition Estar, situarse o detenerse en un sitio de grado o por fuerza Expresar una persona un dolor físico o moral con palabras o gritos

Where the eye mixes quedar and quejar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
quedar
6 ch
quejar

Why the eye confuses quedar with quejar

A purely visual mix-up. quedar ([keˈð̞aɾ]) and quejar ([keˈxaɾ]) 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 a single letter - d in “quedar” becomes j in “quejar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quedar is recorded at frequency rank #1,587, classified as averb, pronounced [keˈð̞aɾ]. quejar is at rank #18,952, tagged as averb, pronounced [keˈxaɾ].

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 20539, this pair ranks #258,892 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quedar vs quejar

Shared letters: aeqru. Private to "quedar": d. Private to "quejar": j.

"quedar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quejar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quedarqeudar · qquedar · qudear · queadr · quedarr · queddar · quedra · uqedar
  • quejarqeujar · qquejar · queajr · quejarr · quejjar · quejra · qujear · uqejar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "quedar" for "quejar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([keˈð̞aɾ] versus [keˈxaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quedar" vs "quejar" - which ranks higher?
"quedar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,587 in our Spanish list, against #18,952 for "quejar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "quedar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quejar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #258,892 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quedar" and "quejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quedare vs quejar". 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 #258,892 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