refuerzavsrefuerzanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,939
“refuerza” frequency rank
#26,590
“refuerzan” frequency rank
41529
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refuerza refuerzan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de reforzar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de reforzar.

Where the eye mixes refuerza and refuerzan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. refuerza runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against refuerzan's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
refuerza
9 ch
refuerzan

Visual trap between refuerza and refuerzan

A purely visual mix-up. refuerza ([reˈfweɾsa]) and refuerzan ([reˈfweɾsãn]) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “refuerza” sits inside “refuerzan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41529, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refuerza is recorded at frequency rank #14,939, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈfweɾsa]. refuerzan is at rank #26,590, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈfweɾsãn].

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 41529, this pair ranks #153,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of refuerza vs refuerzan

Shared letters: aefruz. Private to "refuerza": -. Private to "refuerzan": n.

"refuerza" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "refuerzan" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refuerzaerfuerza · refeurza · reffuerza · refueraz · refuerrza · refuerzza · refuezra · refureza
  • refuerzanerfuerzan · refeurzan · reffuerzan · refuerazn · refuerrzan · refuerzann · refuerzna · refuerzzan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "refuerza" and "refuerzan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([reˈfweɾsa] versus [reˈfweɾsãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "refuerza" or "refuerzan"?
"refuerza" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,939 in our Spanish list, against #26,590 for "refuerzan". 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 "refuerza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "refuerzan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #153,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "refuerza" and "refuerzan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refuerzan vs requerían". 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 #153,170 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