recuerdanvsrecuerdenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,662
“recuerdan” frequency rank
#6,950
“recuerden” frequency rank
12612
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recuerdan recuerden
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de recordar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de recordar.

Where the eye mixes recuerdan and recuerden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. recuerdan and recuerden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
recuerdan
9 ch
recuerden

Why the eye confuses recuerdan with recuerden

A purely visual mix-up. recuerdan ([reˈkweɾð̞ãn]) and recuerden ([reˈkweɾð̞ẽn]) 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 - a in “recuerdan” becomes e in “recuerden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recuerdan is recorded at frequency rank #5,662, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈkweɾð̞ãn]. recuerden is at rank #6,950, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈkweɾð̞ẽn].

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 12612, this pair ranks #290,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of recuerdan vs recuerden

Shared letters: cdenru. Private to "recuerdan": a. Private to "recuerden": -.

"recuerdan" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "recuerden" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recuerdanercuerdan · rceuerdan · reccuerdan · receurdan · recuedran · recueradn · recuerdann · recuerddan
  • recuerdenercuerden · rceuerden · reccuerden · receurden · recuedren · recuerdden · recuerdenn · recuerdne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recuerdan" and "recuerden" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([reˈkweɾð̞ãn] versus [reˈkweɾð̞ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recuerdan" vs "recuerden" - which ranks higher?
"recuerdan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,662 in our Spanish list, against #6,950 for "recuerden". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recuerdan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recuerden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #290,905 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recuerdan" and "recuerden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recuerden vs recuperen". 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 #290,905 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