despertaban

[d̪espeɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]

/[d̪espeɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]/ verb

The verdict

“despertaban” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #76,264 among 4,885 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,264
frequency rank, Spanish
4,885
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de despertar.

Corpus desk

Index ES-despertaban · despertaban · Spanish

despertaban · rank #76,264 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,264
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,885
  • PHOTO-FINISH destaquen

Nearest frequency peer: destaquen (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “despertaban”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “despertaban” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for despertaban
PropertyValue
Headworddespertaban
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[d̪espeɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]
Letters11
Frequency rank#76,264
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “despertaban” en español

La frecuencia va del puñado de palabras que usamos sin parar (izquierda) a la cola larga que apenas aparece (derecha).despertabancae en esta cola de rareza:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “destaquen” (#76,265), “destruyeran” (#76,266), “deseemos” (#76,261). Entre 4,885 lemas con “D”, “despertaban” va en #76,264. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

despertaban is uncommon Spanish at frequency #76,264 among 4,885 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [d̪espeɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de despertar.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for despertaban in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Spanish form is despertaban, spelled D-E-S-P-E-R-T-A-B-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de despertar.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "despertaban"?
"despertaban" is spelled D-E-S-P-E-R-T-A-B-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is [d̪espeɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn].
What does "despertaban" mean?
As a verb, "despertaban" means: Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de despertar.
How do you pronounce "despertaban"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "despertaban" is [d̪espeɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "despertaban" come from?
"despertaban" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "despertaban", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list