quienesvsquiereWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#472
“quienes” frequency rank
#228
“quiere” frequency rank
700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quienes quiere
Definition Forma del plural de quien. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de querer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quienes and quiere apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
quienes
6 ch
quiere

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quienes is [ˈkjenes] while quiere is [ˈkjeɾe]. 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 700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quienes is recorded at frequency rank #472, classified as apron, pronounced [ˈkjenes]. quiere is at rank #228, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkjeɾe].

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 700, this pair ranks #323,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quienes vs quiere

Shared letters: eiqu. Private to "quienes": ns. Private to "quiere": r.

"quienes" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCVC  ·  "quiere" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quienesqiuenes · qquienes · queines · quieens · quieness · quiennes · quiense · quinees
  • quiereqiuere · qquiere · queire · quieer · quierre · quiree · uqiere

Frequency comparison

quienes#472
quiere#228

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quienes" and "quiere" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quienes" is a pronoun and "quiere" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quienes" or "quiere"?
"quiere" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #228 in our Spanish list, against #472 for "quienes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quienes vs quiere

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “quienes”; for a verb, it's “quiere”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quienes” 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