quitanvsquitarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“quitan” and “quitar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,056
“quitan” frequency rank
#3,731
“quitar” frequency rank
13787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quitan quitar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de quitar o de quitarse. Apartar algo de su poseedor.

Where the eye mixes quitan and quitar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
quitan
6 ch
quitar

Why the eye confuses quitan with quitar

A purely visual mix-up. quitan ([ˈkit̪ãn]) and quitar ([kiˈt̪aɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “quitan” becomes r in “quitar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quitan is recorded at frequency rank #10,056, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈkit̪ãn]. quitar is at rank #3,731, tagged as averb, pronounced [kiˈt̪aɾ].

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 13787, this pair ranks #286,558 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of quitan vs quitar

Shared letters: aiqtu. Private to "quitan": n. Private to "quitar": r.

"quitan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "quitar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quitanqiutan · qquitan · quiatn · quitann · quittan · qutian · uqitan
  • quitarqiutar · qquitar · quiatr · quitarr · quitra · quittar · qutiar · uqitar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "quitan" and "quitar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈkit̪ãn] versus [kiˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "quitan" or "quitar"?
"quitar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,731 in our Spanish list, against #10,056 for "quitan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quitan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quitar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #286,558 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quitan" and "quitar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quitaban vs quitan". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #286,558 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list