yacenvsyatesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: yacen is a verb, yates is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“yacen” is a verb and “yates” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,039
“yacen” frequency rank
#23,995
“yates” frequency rank
56034
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature yacen yates
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de yacer. Forma del plural de yate.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set yacen and yates apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
yacen
5 ch
yates

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: yacen is [ˈʝasẽn] while yates is [ˈʝat̪es]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

yacen is recorded at frequency rank #32,039, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈʝasẽn]. yates is at rank #23,995, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈʝat̪es].

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 56034, this pair ranks #76,312 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of yacen vs yates

Shared letters: aey. Private to "yacen": cn. Private to "yates": st.

"yacen" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "yates" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • yacenaycen · yaccen · yacenn · yacne · yaecn · yasen · ycaen · yyacen
  • yatesaytes · yaets · yatess · yatse · yattes · ytaes · yyates

Frequency comparison

yacen#32,039
yates#23,995

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "yacen" and "yates" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "yacen" is a verb and "yates" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "yacen" or "yates"?
"yates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,995 in our Spanish list, against #32,039 for "yacen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering yacen vs yates

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “yacen”; for a noun, it's “yates”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “yacen” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list