cesenvscestaConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#45,189
“cesen” frequency rank
#16,530
“cesta” frequency rank
61719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cesen cesta
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de cesar. Recipiente tejido de mimbre, esparto o material similar.

Where the eye mixes cesen and cesta

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

5 ch
cesen
5 ch
cesta

Why the eye confuses cesen with cesta

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cesen is [ˈsesẽn] while cesta is [ˈsest̪a]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cesen is recorded at frequency rank #45,189, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsesẽn]. cesta is at rank #16,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsest̪a].

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 61719, this pair ranks #54,465 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cesen vs cesta

Shared letters: ces. Private to "cesen": n. Private to "cesta": at.

"cesen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "cesta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cesenccesen · cecen · ceesn · cesenn · cesne · cessen · cseen · ecsen
  • cestaccesta · cesat · cessta · cestta · cetsa · cseta · ecsta · sesta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cesen" for "cesta" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cesen" is a verb and "cesta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cesen" or "cesta" show up more?
"cesta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,530 in our Spanish list, against #45,189 for "cesen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cesen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cesta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,465 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cesen" and "cesta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ceres vs cesen". 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 #54,465 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