competevscompitaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,712
“compete” frequency rank
#48,303
“compita” frequency rank
80015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compete compita
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de competer. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de competir.

Where the eye mixes compete and compita

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. compete and compita follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
compete
7 ch
compita

Visual trap between compete and compita

A purely visual mix-up. compete ([kõmˈpet̪e]) and compita ([kõmˈpit̪a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compete is recorded at frequency rank #31,712, classified as averb, pronounced [kõmˈpet̪e]. compita is at rank #48,303, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõmˈpit̪a].

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 80015, this pair ranks #12,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of compete vs compita

Shared letters: cmopt. Private to "compete": e. Private to "compita": ai.

"compete" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "compita" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compete ← ccompete · cmopete · comepte · commpete · compeet · compette · comppete · comptee
  • compita ← ccompita · cmopita · comipta · commpita · compiat · compitta · comppita · comptia

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "compete" and "compita" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõmˈpet̪e] versus [kõmˈpit̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "compete" vs "compita" - which ranks higher?
"compete" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,712 in our Spanish list, against #48,303 for "compita". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compita" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,224 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compete" and "compita" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compita vs copita". 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 #12,224 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