subrayadovssubrayanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,461
“subrayado” frequency rank
#47,430
“subrayan” frequency rank
72891
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subrayado subrayan
Definition Participio de subrayar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de subrayar.

Where the eye mixes subrayado and subrayan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
subrayado
8 ch
subrayan

Look-alike desk: subrayado vs subrayan

A purely visual mix-up. subrayado ([suβ̞ɾaˈʝað̞o]) and subrayan ([suˈβ̞ɾaʝãn]) 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 72891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subrayado is recorded at frequency rank #25,461, classified as averb, pronounced [suβ̞ɾaˈʝað̞o]. subrayan is at rank #47,430, tagged as averb, pronounced [suˈβ̞ɾaʝãn].

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 72891, this pair ranks #24,437 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of subrayado vs subrayan

Shared letters: abrsuy. Private to "subrayado": do. Private to "subrayan": n.

"subrayado" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVVCV  ·  "subrayan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subrayadosburayado · ssubrayado · subaryado · subbrayado · subraaydo · subrayaddo · subrayaod · subraydao
  • subrayansburayan · ssubrayan · subaryan · subbrayan · subraayn · subrayann · subrayna · subrayyan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "subrayado" for "subrayan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([suβ̞ɾaˈʝað̞o] versus [suˈβ̞ɾaʝãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "subrayado" or "subrayan"?
"subrayado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,461 in our Spanish list, against #47,430 for "subrayan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "subrayado" and "subrayan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "subrayado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subrayan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,437 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subrayado" and "subrayan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subrayan vs subrayando". 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 #24,437 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