quedenvsquédeseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,582
“queden” frequency rank
#48,026
“quédese” frequency rank
54608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes queden and quédese

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. queden runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against quédese's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
queden
7 ch
quédese

Look-alike desk: queden vs quédese

A purely visual mix-up. queden ([ˈkeð̞ẽn]) and quédese ([ˈkeð̞ese]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54608, 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]. quédese is at rank #48,026, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkeð̞ese].

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 54608, this pair ranks #82,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of queden vs quédese

Shared letters: dequ. Private to "queden": n. Private to "quédese": sé.

"queden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quédese" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "queden" for "quédese" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeð̞ẽn] versus [ˈkeð̞ese]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "queden" vs "quédese" - which ranks higher?
"queden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,582 in our Spanish list, against #48,026 for "quédese". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "queden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quédese" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #82,562 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "queden" and "quédese" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quedare 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 #82,562 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