quedenvsquédenseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,582
“queden” frequency rank
#39,950
“quédense” frequency rank
46532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queden quédense
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de quedar o de quedarse. Segunda persona del plural (ustedes) del imperativo afirmativo de quedarse (con el pronombre «se» enclítico).

Where the eye mixes queden and quédense

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. queden runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against quédense's 8 (CVVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
queden
8 ch
quédense

Visual trap between queden and quédense

A purely visual mix-up. queden ([ˈkeð̞ẽn]) and quédense ([ˈkeð̞ẽnse]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

queden is recorded at frequency rank #6,582, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkeð̞ẽn]. quédense is at rank #39,950, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkeð̞ẽnse].

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 46532, this pair ranks #125,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of queden vs quédense

Shared letters: denqu. Private to "queden": -. Private to "quédense": sé.

"queden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quédense" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • queden ← qeuden · qqueden · qudeen · quedden · quedenn · quedne · queedn · uqeden

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "queden" for "quédense" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeð̞ẽn] versus [ˈkeð̞ẽnse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "queden" or "quédense" show up more?
"queden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,582 in our Spanish list, against #39,950 for "quédense". 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 "queden" and "quédense" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "queden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quédense" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #125,182 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "queden" and "quédense" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quédense vs quédese". 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 #125,182 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