quejenvsquiénWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quejen is a verb, quién is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quejen” is a verb and “quién” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,242
“quejen” frequency rank
#355
“quién” frequency rank
36597
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quejen and quién apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
quejen
5 ch
quién

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quejen is [ˈkexẽn] while quién is [ˈkjẽn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quejen is recorded at frequency rank #36,242, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkexẽn]. quién is at rank #355, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈkjẽn].

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 36597, this pair ranks #179,799 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quejen vs quién

Shared letters: nqu. Private to "quejen": ej. Private to "quién": .

"quejen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quién" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quejenqeujen · qquejen · queejn · quejenn · quejjen · quejne · qujeen · uqejen

Frequency comparison

quejen#36,242
quién#355

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quejen" and "quién" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quejen" is a verb and "quién" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quejen" or "quién"?
"quién" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #355 in our Spanish list, against #36,242 for "quejen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering quejen vs quién

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “quejen”; for a pronoun, it's “quién”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quejen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list