vigilanvsvigilarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#30,299
“vigilan” frequency rank
#8,739
“vigilar” frequency rank
39038
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vigilan vigilar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de vigilar. Seguir intencionadamente el comportamiento de alguien o algo.

Where the eye mixes vigilan and vigilar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. vigilan and vigilar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
vigilan
7 ch
vigilar

Visual trap between vigilan and vigilar

A purely visual mix-up. vigilan ([biˈxilãn]) and vigilar ([bixiˈlaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “vigilan” becomes r in “vigilar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigilan is recorded at frequency rank #30,299, classified as averb, pronounced [biˈxilãn]. vigilar is at rank #8,739, tagged as averb, pronounced [bixiˈlaɾ].

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 39038, this pair ranks #166,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vigilan vs vigilar

Shared letters: agilv. Private to "vigilan": n. Private to "vigilar": r.

"vigilan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "vigilar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vigilan ← bigilan · ivgilan · vgiilan · viggilan · vigialn · vigilann · vigillan · vigilna
  • vigilar ← bigilar · ivgilar · vgiilar · viggilar · vigialr · vigilarr · vigillar · vigilra

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vigilan" and "vigilar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([biˈxilãn] versus [bixiˈlaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vigilan" vs "vigilar" - which ranks higher?
"vigilar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,739 in our Spanish list, against #30,299 for "vigilan". 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 "vigilan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vigilar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #166,721 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vigilan" and "vigilar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigilaba vs vigilan". 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 #166,721 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