cesanvscestasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cesan is a verb, cestas is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cesan” is a verb and “cestas” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,706
“cesan” frequency rank
#40,707
“cestas” frequency rank
81413
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cesan cestas
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de cesar. Forma del plural de cesta.

Where the eye mixes cesan and cestas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cesan runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against cestas's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
cesan
6 ch
cestas

Look-alike desk: cesan vs cestas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cesan is [ˈsesãn] while cestas is [ˈsest̪as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cesan is recorded at frequency rank #40,706, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsesãn]. cestas is at rank #40,707, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsest̪as].

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 81413, this pair ranks #10,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cesan vs cestas

Shared letters: aces. Private to "cesan": n. Private to "cestas": t.

"cesan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cestas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cesan ← ccesan · ceasn · cesann · cesna · cessan · csean · ecsan · sesan
  • cestas ← ccestas · cesats · cesstas · cestass · cestsa · cesttas · cetsas · csetas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cesan" for "cestas" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cesan" is a verb and "cestas" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cesan" or "cestas"?
"cesan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,706 in our Spanish list, against #40,707 for "cestas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cesan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cestas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,448 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cesan" and "cestas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceba vs cesan". 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 #10,448 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