defenderávsdefenderseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,046
“defenderá” frequency rank
#8,506
“defenderse” frequency rank
42552
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defenderá defenderse
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. Ser hábil para salir del paso en cierta situación o tarea.

Where the eye mixes defenderá and defenderse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. defenderá runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against defenderse's 10 (CVCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
defenderá
10 ch
defenderse

Look-alike desk: defenderá vs defenderse

A purely visual mix-up. defenderá ([d̪efẽn̪d̪eˈɾa]) and defenderse ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪eɾse]) 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 42552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defenderá is recorded at frequency rank #34,046, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪d̪eˈɾa]. defenderse is at rank #8,506, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪eɾse].

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 42552, this pair ranks #147,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of defenderá vs defenderse

Shared letters: defnr. Private to "defenderá": á. Private to "defenderse": s.

"defenderá" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "defenderse" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defenderse ← ddefenderse · deefnderse · defednerse · defendderse · defenderce · defenderes · defenderrse · defendersse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "defenderá" for "defenderse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪efẽn̪d̪eˈɾa] versus [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪eɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "defenderá" vs "defenderse" - which ranks higher?
"defenderse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,506 in our Spanish list, against #34,046 for "defenderá". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "defenderá" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "defenderse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,575 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defenderá" and "defenderse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defenderá vs dependerán". 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 #147,575 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