Which to use
“quién” is a pronoun and “quiten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #355
- “quién” frequency rank
- #14,689
- “quiten” frequency rank
- 15044
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | quién | quiten |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qué persona. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de quitar o de quitarse. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quién and quiten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quién is [ˈkjẽn] while quiten is [ˈkit̪ẽn]. 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 (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
quién is recorded at frequency rank #355, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈkjẽn]. 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 15044, this pair ranks #281,709 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of quién vs quiten
Shared letters: inqu. Private to "quién": é. Private to "quiten": et.
"quién" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "quiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- quiten ← qiuten · qquiten · quietn · quitenn · quitne · quitten · qutien · uqiten
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "quién" and "quiten" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "quién" or "quiten"?
Remembering quién vs quiten
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “quién”; for a verb, it's “quiten”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quién” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable