quedenvsquejenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,582
“queden” frequency rank
#36,242
“quejen” frequency rank
42824
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queden quejen
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de quedar o de quedarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de quejar o de quejarse.

Where the eye mixes queden and quejen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. queden and quejen follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
queden
6 ch
quejen

Why the eye confuses queden with quejen

A purely visual mix-up. queden ([ˈkeð̞ẽn]) and quejen ([ˈkexẽn]) 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 “queden” becomes j in “quejen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42824, 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]. quejen is at rank #36,242, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkexẽn].

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 42824, this pair ranks #146,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of queden vs quejen

Shared letters: enqu. Private to "queden": d. Private to "quejen": j.

"queden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quejen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • queden ← qeuden · qqueden · qudeen · quedden · quedenn · quedne · queedn · uqeden
  • quejen ← qeujen · qquejen · queejn · quejenn · quejjen · quejne · qujeen · uqejen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "queden" and "quejen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeð̞ẽn] versus [ˈkexẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "queden" vs "quejen" - which ranks higher?
"queden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,582 in our Spanish list, against #36,242 for "quejen". 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 "queden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quejen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "queden" and "quejen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "queje vs quejen". 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 #146,093 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