secanvssegúnWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: secan is a verb, según is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“secan” is a verb and “según” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,455
“secan” frequency rank
#196
“según” frequency rank
39651
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature secan según
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de secar. Conforme con, con arreglo a.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set secan and según apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
secan
5 ch
según

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: secan is [ˈsekãn] while según is [seˈɣ̞ũn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

secan is recorded at frequency rank #39,455, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsekãn]. según is at rank #196, tagged as aprep, pronounced [seˈɣ̞ũn].

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 39651, this pair ranks #163,375 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of secan vs según

Shared letters: ens. Private to "secan": ac. Private to "según": .

"secan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "según" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • secancecan · escan · scean · seacn · secann · seccan · secna · ssecan

Frequency comparison

secan#39,455
según#196

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "secan" and "según" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "secan" is a verb and "según" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "secan" or "según"?
"según" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #196 in our Spanish list, against #39,455 for "secan". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering secan vs según

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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