separanvssepareWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,715
“separan” frequency rank
#22,185
“separe” frequency rank
34900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature separan separe
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de separar o de separarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de separar o de separarse.

Where the eye mixes separan and separe

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

7 ch
separan
6 ch
separe

Why the eye confuses separan with separe

A purely visual mix-up. separan ([seˈpaɾãn]) and separe ([seˈpaɾe]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

separan is recorded at frequency rank #12,715, classified as averb, pronounced [seˈpaɾãn]. separe is at rank #22,185, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈpaɾe].

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 34900, this pair ranks #188,949 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of separan vs separe

Shared letters: aeprs. Private to "separan": n. Private to "separe": -.

"separan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "separe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • separanceparan · esparan · seapran · sepaarn · separann · separna · separran · sepparan
  • separecepare · espare · seapre · sepaer · separre · seppare · seprae · speare

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "separan" and "separe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([seˈpaɾãn] versus [seˈpaɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "separan" or "separe" show up more?
"separan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,715 in our Spanish list, against #22,185 for "separe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "separan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "separe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #188,949 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "separan" and "separe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "señalé vs separe". 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 #188,949 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