delatanvsdesataConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,338
“delatan” frequency rank
#22,654
“desata” frequency rank
70992
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature delatan desata
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 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 delatan and desata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. delatan runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against desata's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
delatan
6 ch
desata

Look-alike desk: delatan vs desata

A purely visual mix-up. delatan ([d̪eˈlat̪ãn]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

delatan is recorded at frequency rank #48,338, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈlat̪ãn]. 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 70992, this pair ranks #28,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of delatan vs desata

Shared letters: adet. Private to "delatan": ln. Private to "desata": s.

"delatan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "desata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • delatan ← ddelatan · dealtan · delaatn · delatann · delatna · delattan · dellatan · deltaan
  • desata ← ddesata · deasta · desaat · desatta · dessata · destaa · dseata · edsata

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "delatan" and "desata" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈlat̪ãn] versus [d̪eˈsat̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "delatan" vs "desata" - which ranks higher?
"desata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,654 in our Spanish list, against #48,338 for "delatan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "delatan" 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 #28,472 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "delatan" and "desata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delatan vs denotan". 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 #28,472 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