vuelenvsvuelvanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,137
“vuelen” frequency rank
#5,791
“vuelvan” frequency rank
46928
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vuelen vuelvan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de volar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de volver o de volverse.

Where the eye mixes vuelen and vuelvan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. vuelen runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against vuelvan's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
vuelen
7 ch
vuelvan

Visual trap between vuelen and vuelvan

A purely visual mix-up. vuelen ([ˈbwelẽn]) and vuelvan ([ˈbwelβ̞ãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vuelen is recorded at frequency rank #41,137, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈbwelẽn]. vuelvan is at rank #5,791, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbwelβ̞ãn].

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 46928, this pair ranks #122,945 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vuelen vs vuelvan

Shared letters: elnuv. Private to "vuelen": -. Private to "vuelvan": a.

"vuelen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "vuelvan" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vuelen ← buelen · uvelen · veulen · vueeln · vuelenn · vuellen · vuelne · vuleen
  • vuelvan ← buelban · uvelvan · veulvan · vuelavn · vuellvan · vuelvann · vuelvna · vuelvvan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vuelen" for "vuelvan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbwelẽn] versus [ˈbwelβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "vuelen" vs "vuelvan" - which ranks higher?
"vuelvan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,791 in our Spanish list, against #41,137 for "vuelen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "vuelen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vuelvan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,945 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vuelen" and "vuelvan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vuelas vs vuelen". 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 #122,945 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