aspasvsassTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,747
“aspas” frequency rank
#25,907
“ass” frequency rank
67654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aspas ass
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de aspar o de asparse. Primera y tercera personas del singular del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de essen.

Where the eye mixes aspas and ass

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
aspas
3 ch
ass

Visual trap between aspas and ass

A purely visual mix-up. aspas ([ˈaspas]) and ass ([a:s]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aspas is recorded at frequency rank #41,747, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈaspas]. ass is at rank #25,907, tagged as averb, pronounced [a:s].

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 67654, this pair ranks #36,571 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aspas vs ass

Shared letters: as. Private to "aspas": p. Private to "ass": -.

"aspas" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "ass" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aspasasaps · aspass · asppas · aspsa · asspas · sapas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "aspas" for "ass" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈaspas] versus [a:s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aspas" or "ass"?
"ass" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,907 in our Spanish list, against #41,747 for "aspas". 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 "aspas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,571 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aspas" and "ass" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apis vs aspas". 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 #36,571 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