quejabavsquejanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,456
“quejaba” frequency rank
#8,170
“quejan” frequency rank
29626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quejaba quejan
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de quejar o de quejarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de quejar o de quejarse.

Where the eye mixes quejaba and quejan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
quejaba
6 ch
quejan

Why the eye confuses quejaba with quejan

A purely visual mix-up. quejaba ([keˈxaβ̞a]) and quejan ([ˈkexãn]) 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 29626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quejaba is recorded at frequency rank #21,456, classified as averb, pronounced [keˈxaβ̞a]. quejan is at rank #8,170, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkexãn].

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 29626, this pair ranks #216,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quejaba vs quejan

Shared letters: aejqu. Private to "quejaba": b. Private to "quejan": n.

"quejaba" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "quejan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quejabaqeujaba · qquejaba · queajba · quejaab · quejabba · quejava · quejbaa · quejjaba
  • quejanqeujan · qquejan · queajn · quejann · quejjan · quejna · qujean · uqejan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "quejaba" for "quejan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([keˈxaβ̞a] versus [ˈkexãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "quejaba" vs "quejan" - which ranks higher?
"quejan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,170 in our Spanish list, against #21,456 for "quejaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quejaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quejan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #216,045 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quejaba" and "quejan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quejaba vs quemaban". 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 #216,045 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