quedenvsquemanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,582
“queden” frequency rank
#14,929
“queman” frequency rank
21511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queden queman
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 indicativo de quemar o de quemarse.

Where the eye mixes queden and queman

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

Look-alike desk: queden vs queman

A purely visual mix-up. queden ([ˈkeð̞ẽn]) and queman ([ˈkemãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21511, 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]. queman is at rank #14,929, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkemãn].

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 21511, this pair ranks #254,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of queden vs queman

Shared letters: enqu. Private to "queden": d. Private to "queman": am.

"queden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "queman" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • queden ← qeuden · qqueden · qudeen · quedden · quedenn · quedne · queedn · uqeden
  • queman ← qeuman · qqueman · queamn · quemann · quemman · quemna · qumean · uqeman

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "queden" and "queman" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeð̞ẽn] versus [ˈkemãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "queden" vs "queman" - which ranks higher?
"queden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,582 in our Spanish list, against #14,929 for "queman". 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 "queman" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,595 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "queden" and "queman" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quemaban vs queman". 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 #254,595 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