valenvsvotenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,787
“valen” frequency rank
#10,247
“voten” frequency rank
16034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valen voten
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de valer o de valerse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de votar.

Where the eye mixes valen and voten

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

5 ch
valen
5 ch
voten

Visual trap between valen and voten

A purely visual mix-up. valen ([ˈbalẽn]) and voten ([ˈbot̪ẽn]) 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 16034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valen is recorded at frequency rank #5,787, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbalẽn]. voten is at rank #10,247, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbot̪ẽn].

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 16034, this pair ranks #277,781 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of valen vs voten

Shared letters: env. Private to "valen": al. Private to "voten": ot.

"valen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "voten" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valenavlen · balen · vaeln · valenn · vallen · valne · vlaen · vvalen
  • votenboten · ovten · voetn · votenn · votne · votten · vtoen · vvoten

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "valen" for "voten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbalẽn] versus [ˈbot̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "valen" vs "voten" - which ranks higher?
"valen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,787 in our Spanish list, against #10,247 for "voten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "valen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #277,781 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valen" and "voten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valen vs vallan". 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 #277,781 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