defendemosvsdependemosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,950
“defendemos” frequency rank
#30,859
“dependemos” frequency rank
51809
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defendemos dependemos
Definition Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de depender.

Where the eye mixes defendemos and dependemos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. defendemos and dependemos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
defendemos
10 ch
dependemos

Why the eye confuses defendemos with dependemos

A purely visual mix-up. defendemos ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪emos]) and dependemos ([d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪emos]) 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 a single letter - f in “defendemos” becomes p in “dependemos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defendemos is recorded at frequency rank #20,950, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪emos]. dependemos is at rank #30,859, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪emos].

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 51809, this pair ranks #95,922 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of defendemos vs dependemos

Shared letters: demnos. Private to "defendemos": f. Private to "dependemos": p.

"defendemos" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC  ·  "dependemos" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defendemos ← ddefendemos · deefndemos · defednemos · defenddemos · defendemmos · defendemoss · defendemso · defendeoms
  • dependemos ← ddependemos · deepndemos · depednemos · dependdemos · dependemmos · dependemoss · dependemso · dependeoms

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "defendemos" and "dependemos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪emos] versus [d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪emos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "defendemos" vs "dependemos" - which ranks higher?
"defendemos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,950 in our Spanish list, against #30,859 for "dependemos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "defendemos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dependemos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #95,922 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defendemos" and "dependemos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defendamos vs dependemos". 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 #95,922 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