tachanvstardanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,107
“tachan” frequency rank
#14,972
“tardan” frequency rank
63079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tachan tardan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tachar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tardar.

Where the eye mixes tachan and tardan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tachan and tardan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tachan
6 ch
tardan

Why the eye confuses tachan with tardan

A purely visual mix-up. tachan ([ˈt̪at͡ʃãn]) and tardan ([ˈt̪aɾð̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tachan is recorded at frequency rank #48,107, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪at͡ʃãn]. tardan is at rank #14,972, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪aɾð̞ãn].

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 63079, this pair ranks #49,922 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tachan vs tardan

Shared letters: ant. Private to "tachan": ch. Private to "tardan": dr.

"tachan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tardan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tachan ← atchan · tacahn · tacchan · tachann · tachhan · tachna · tahcan · tcahan
  • tardan ← atrdan · tadran · taradn · tardann · tarddan · tardna · tarrdan · tradan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tachan" for "tardan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪at͡ʃãn] versus [ˈt̪aɾð̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tachan" vs "tardan" - which ranks higher?
"tardan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,972 in our Spanish list, against #48,107 for "tachan". 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 "tachan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tardan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,922 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tachan" and "tardan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tacaño vs tachan". 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 #49,922 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