quejóvsquemaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quejó is a verb, quema is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quejó” is a verb and “quema” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,788
“quejó” frequency rank
#6,348
“quema” frequency rank
27136
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quejó quema
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de quejar. Acción o efecto de quemar.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
quejó
5 ch
quema

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quejó is [keˈxo] while quema is [ˈkema]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quejó is recorded at frequency rank #20,788, classified as averb, pronounced [keˈxo]. quema is at rank #6,348, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkema].

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 27136, this pair ranks #228,285 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quejó vs quema

Shared letters: equ. Private to "quejó": . Private to "quema": am.

"quejó" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "quema" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quemaqeuma · qquema · queam · quemma · qumea · uqema

Frequency comparison

quejó#20,788
quema#6,348

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quejó" and "quema" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quejó" is a verb and "quema" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quejó" or "quema"?
"quema" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,348 in our Spanish list, against #20,788 for "quejó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quejó vs quema

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “quejó”; for a noun, it's “quema”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quejó” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list