confesiónvsconfesóWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#7,692
“confesión” frequency rank
#11,007
“confesó” frequency rank
18699
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature confesión confesó
Definition Acción o efecto de confesar o de confesarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de confesar o de confesarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set confesión and confesó apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
confesión
7 ch
confesó

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: confesión is [kõɱfeˈsjõn] while confesó is [kõɱfeˈso]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

confesión is recorded at frequency rank #7,692, classified as anoun, pronounced [kõɱfeˈsjõn]. 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 18699, this pair ranks #266,840 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of confesión vs confesó

Shared letters: cefnosó. Private to "confesión": i. Private to "confesó": -.

"confesión" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "confesó" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequency comparison

confesión#7,692
confesó#11,007

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "confesión" and "confesó" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "confesión" is a noun and "confesó" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "confesión" or "confesó"?
"confesión" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,692 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.

Remembering confesión vs confesó

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “confesión”; for a verb, it's “confesó”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “confesión” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list