dejabavsdesataTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,600
“dejaba” frequency rank
#22,654
“desata” frequency rank
28254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dejaba desata
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de dejar o de dejarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desatar o de desatarse.

Where the eye mixes dejaba and desata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
dejaba
6 ch
desata

Why the eye confuses dejaba with desata

A purely visual mix-up. dejaba ([d̪eˈxaβ̞a]) and desata ([d̪eˈsat̪a]) 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 28254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dejaba is recorded at frequency rank #5,600, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈxaβ̞a]. desata is at rank #22,654, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsat̪a].

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 28254, this pair ranks #222,921 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dejaba vs desata

Shared letters: ade. Private to "dejaba": bj. Private to "desata": st.

"dejaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "desata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dejabaddejaba · deajba · dejaab · dejabba · dejava · dejbaa · dejjaba · djeaba
  • desataddesata · deasta · desaat · desatta · dessata · destaa · dseata · edsata

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dejaba" for "desata" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈxaβ̞a] versus [d̪eˈsat̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dejaba" vs "desata" - which ranks higher?
"dejaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,600 in our Spanish list, against #22,654 for "desata". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "dejaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #222,921 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dejaba" and "desata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delatan vs desata". 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 #222,921 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