esperar

/[espeˈɾaɾ]/ verb

Letters

7 characters

Frequency Rank

#823

in Spanish word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

esperar is aSpanishverb. It means: Detener el movimiento o la acción hasta la llegada u ocurrencia de algo, hacer tiempo. Pronounced [espeˈɾaɾ]. It ranks #823 in Spanish word frequency. Often confused with espero and espere.

Key facts for esperar
PropertyValue
Headwordesperar
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[espeˈɾaɾ]
Letters7
Frequency rank#823
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of esperar in Spanish word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for esperar is 7 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [espeˈɾaɾ]. Corpus data places it at rank #823 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for esperar, with forms such as "epserar", "eseprar", and "espearr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "espero", "espere", "espiar", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct Spanish form is esperar, spelled E-S-P-E-R-A-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Detener el movimiento o la acción hasta la llegada u ocurrencia de algo, hacer tiempo.
  2. 2
    Tener esperanza de conseguir alguna cosa que se desea.
  3. 3
    Dícese también de las cosas que no se desean, y se teme que han de suceder.
  4. 4
    Cifrar la confianza en alguno o en alguna cosa.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: epserar,eseprar,espearr,esperarr,esperrar,espperar,esprear,essperar,seperar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for esperar

Misspelling Variants of "esperar"

epserar7eseprar7espearr7esperarr8esperrar8espperar8esprear7essperar8
Misspelling Variants of "esperar"

Frequency rank: #823 in Spanish

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "esperar"?
"esperar" is spelled E-S-P-E-R-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is [espeˈɾaɾ].
What does "esperar" mean?
As a verb, "esperar" means: Detener el movimiento o la acción hasta la llegada u ocurrencia de algo, hacer tiempo.
What words are commonly confused with "esperar"?
"esperar" is commonly confused with "espero", "espere", "espiar". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "esperar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "esperar" is [espeˈɾaɾ]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "esperar" come from?
"esperar" 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.

Nearby Spanish words

Other entries that begin with the letter E in our Spanish index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.