sucedevssucederTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,963
“sucede” frequency rank
#5,261
“suceder” frequency rank
7224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sucede suceder
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de suceder. Entrar en lugar de otra persona en un cargo o situación.

Where the eye mixes sucede and suceder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
sucede
7 ch
suceder

Visual trap between sucede and suceder

A purely visual mix-up. sucede ([suˈseð̞e]) and suceder ([suseˈð̞eɾ]) 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) - “sucede” sits inside “suceder”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucede is recorded at frequency rank #1,963, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈseð̞e]. suceder is at rank #5,261, tagged as averb, pronounced [suseˈð̞eɾ].

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 7224, this pair ranks #308,605 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sucede vs suceder

Shared letters: cdesu. Private to "sucede": -. Private to "suceder": r.

"sucede" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "suceder" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sucedescuede · ssucede · succede · sucdee · sucedde · suceed · suecde · susede
  • sucederscueder · ssuceder · succeder · sucdeer · sucedder · sucederr · sucedre · suceedr

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sucede" for "suceder" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([suˈseð̞e] versus [suseˈð̞eɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sucede" or "suceder"?
"sucede" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,963 in our Spanish list, against #5,261 for "suceder". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sucede" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "suceder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #308,605 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sucede" and "suceder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sucedan vs suceder". 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 #308,605 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