tomarvstomenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#440
“tomar” frequency rank
#4,842
“tomen” frequency rank
5282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomar tomen
Definition Coger alguna cosa con la mano. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de tomar o de tomarse.

Where the eye mixes tomar and tomen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tomar
5 ch
tomen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tomar ([t̪oˈmaɾ]) and tomen ([ˈt̪omẽn]) 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 5282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomar is recorded at frequency rank #440, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈmaɾ]. tomen is at rank #4,842, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪omẽn].

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 5282, this pair ranks #314,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tomar vs tomen

Shared letters: mot. Private to "tomar": ar. Private to "tomen": en.

"tomar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tomen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomarotmar · tmoar · toamr · tomarr · tommar · tomra · ttomar
  • tomenotmen · tmoen · toemn · tomenn · tommen · tomne · ttomen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tomar" and "tomen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪oˈmaɾ] versus [ˈt̪omẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomar" or "tomen"?
"tomar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #440 in our Spanish list, against #4,842 for "tomen". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "tomar" and "tomen". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tomar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tomen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #314,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomar" and "tomen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tomb vs tomen". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list