ásperovsaspiroConfusable pair

Quick tell: áspero is a adjective, aspiro is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“áspero” is an adjective and “aspiro” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,677
“áspero” frequency rank
#39,065
“aspiro” frequency rank
65742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature áspero aspiro
Definition De superficie desigual o irregular, de tal manera de ofrecer mucha fricción al tacto Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de aspirar.

Where the eye mixes áspero and aspiro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
áspero
6 ch
aspiro

Visual trap between áspero and aspiro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: áspero is [ˈaspeɾo] while aspiro is [asˈpiɾo]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

áspero is recorded at frequency rank #26,677, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈaspeɾo]. aspiro is at rank #39,065, tagged as averb, pronounced [asˈpiɾo].

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 65742, this pair ranks #41,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of áspero vs aspiro

Shared letters: oprs. Private to "áspero": . Private to "aspiro": ai.

"áspero" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "aspiro" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aspiroapsiro · asipro · aspior · aspirro · asppiro · asprio · asspiro · sapiro

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "áspero" for "aspiro" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "áspero" is an adjective and "aspiro" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "áspero" or "aspiro"?
"áspero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,677 in our Spanish list, against #39,065 for "aspiro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "áspero" and "aspiro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "áspero" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "aspiro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "áspero" and "aspiro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aspire vs aspiro". 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 #41,732 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