delatavsdesataConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,855
“delata” frequency rank
#22,654
“desata” frequency rank
53509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delata desata
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de delatar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desatar o de desatarse.

Where the eye mixes delata and desata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. delata and desata follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
delata
6 ch
desata

Visual trap between delata and desata

A purely visual mix-up. delata ([d̪eˈlat̪a]) 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 differ by a single letter - l in “delata” becomes s in “desata”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delata is recorded at frequency rank #30,855, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈlat̪a]. 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 53509, this pair ranks #87,529 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of delata vs desata

Shared letters: adet. Private to "delata": l. Private to "desata": s.

"delata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "desata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delata ← ddelata · dealta · delaat · delatta · dellata · deltaa · dleata · edlata
  • desata ← ddesata · deasta · desaat · desatta · dessata · destaa · dseata · edsata

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "delata" and "desata" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈlat̪a] versus [d̪eˈsat̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "delata" or "desata"?
"desata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,654 in our Spanish list, against #30,855 for "delata". 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 "delata" and "desata" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "delata" 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 #87,529 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delata" and "desata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delata vs delatan". 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 #87,529 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