quiervsquitenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quier is a conjunction, quiten is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quier” is a conjunction and “quiten” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,900
“quier” frequency rank
#14,689
“quiten” frequency rank
43589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quier quiten
Definition Se anteponía a elementos en serie para indicar alternancia lógica entre ellos. 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 quier and quiten apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quier
6 ch
quiten

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quier is [ˈkjeɾ] 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 (conjunction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quier is recorded at frequency rank #28,900, classified as aconj, pronounced [ˈkjeɾ]. 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 43589, this pair ranks #141,844 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quier vs quiten

Shared letters: eiqu. Private to "quier": r. Private to "quiten": nt.

"quier" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC  ·  "quiten" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quierqiuer · qquier · queir · quierr · quire · uqier
  • quitenqiuten · qquiten · quietn · quitenn · quitne · quitten · qutien · uqiten

Frequency comparison

quier#28,900
quiten#14,689

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quier" and "quiten" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quier" is a conjunction and "quiten" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quier" or "quiten"?
"quiten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,689 in our Spanish list, against #28,900 for "quier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quier vs quiten

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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