confesarvsconfesóWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,468
“confesar” frequency rank
#11,007
“confesó” frequency rank
21475
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature confesar confesó
Definition Expresar o admitir la verdad de los propios sentimientos, ideas o acciones, especialmente en el contexto de pecados o crímenes cometidos. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de confesar o de confesarse.

Where the eye mixes confesar and confesó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
confesar
7 ch
confesó

Visual trap between confesar and confesó

A purely visual mix-up. confesar ([kõɱfeˈsaɾ]) and confesó ([kõɱfeˈso]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21475, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

confesar is recorded at frequency rank #10,468, classified as averb, pronounced [kõɱfeˈsaɾ]. confesó is at rank #11,007, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõɱfeˈso].

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 21475, this pair ranks #254,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of confesar vs confesó

Shared letters: cefnos. Private to "confesar": ar. Private to "confesó": ó.

"confesar" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "confesó" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • confesarcconfesar · cnofesar · cofnesar · conefsar · confeasr · confesarr · confesra · confessar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "confesar" and "confesó" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõɱfeˈsaɾ] versus [kõɱfeˈso]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "confesar" vs "confesó" - which ranks higher?
"confesar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,468 in our Spanish list, against #11,007 for "confesó". 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 "confesar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "confesó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,770 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "confesar" and "confesó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "confesar vs confiscar". 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 #254,770 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