esperar
[espeˈɾaɾ]
The verdict
“esperar” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #823 in Spanish word frequency and used as a verb.
- #823
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Detener el movimiento o la acción hasta la llegada u ocurrencia de algo, hacer tiempo.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | esperar |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [espeˈɾaɾ] |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #823 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “esperar” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for esperar is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, 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 generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for esperar, with forms such as "epserar", "eseprar", and "espearr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "espero", "espere", "espiar", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Spanish form is esperar, spelled E-S-P-E-R-A-R.
Definition
- 1Detener el movimiento o la acción hasta la llegada u ocurrencia de algo, hacer tiempo.
- 2Tener esperanza de conseguir alguna cosa que se desea.
- 3Dícese también de las cosas que no se desean, y se teme que han de suceder.
- 4Cifrar 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
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of esperar - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "esperar"?
What does "esperar" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "esperar"?
How do you pronounce "esperar"?
What language does "esperar" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “esperar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is E-S-P-E-R-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [espeˈɾaɾ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “espero” - see the side-by-side comparison. esperar vs espero
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.