quedenvsquitenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,582
“queden” frequency rank
#14,689
“quiten” frequency rank
21271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature queden quiten
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 quitar o de quitarse.

Where the eye mixes queden and quiten

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

Why the eye confuses queden with quiten

A purely visual mix-up. queden ([ˈkeð̞ẽn]) and quiten ([ˈkit̪ẽn]) 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 21271, 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]. quiten is at rank #14,689, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkit̪ẽn].

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 21271, this pair ranks #255,657 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of queden vs quiten

Shared letters: enqu. Private to "queden": d. Private to "quiten": it.

"queden" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • queden ← qeuden · qqueden · qudeen · quedden · quedenn · quedne · queedn · uqeden
  • quiten ← qiuten · qquiten · quietn · quitenn · quitne · quitten · qutien · uqiten

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "queden" and "quiten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkeð̞ẽn] versus [ˈkit̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "queden" vs "quiten" - which ranks higher?
"queden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,582 in our Spanish list, against #14,689 for "quiten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "queden" and "quiten" 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 "quiten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #255,657 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "queden" and "quiten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quistes vs quiten". 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 #255,657 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