dementevsdependeWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: demente is a adjective, depende is a phrase, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“demente” is an adjective and “depende” is a phrase - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,508
“demente” frequency rank
#1,633
“depende” frequency rank
20141
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demente depende
Definition Loco o falto de juicio. Expresión para indicar que algo es contingente o se acepta solo bajo determinadas condiciones..

Where the eye mixes demente and depende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
demente
7 ch
depende

Look-alike desk: demente vs depende

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: demente is [d̪eˈmẽn̪t̪e] while depende is [d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs phrase), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demente is recorded at frequency rank #18,508, classified as anadj, pronounced [d̪eˈmẽn̪t̪e]. depende is at rank #1,633, tagged as aphrase, pronounced [d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪e].

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 20141, this pair ranks #260,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of demente vs depende

Shared letters: den. Private to "demente": mt. Private to "depende": p.

"demente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "depende" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dementeddemente · deemnte · demenet · demennte · dementte · demetne · demmente · demnete
  • dependeddepende · deepnde · depedne · dependde · depened · depennde · depnede · deppende

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "demente" for "depende" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "demente" is an adjective and "depende" a phrase, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "demente" or "depende"?
"depende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,633 in our Spanish list, against #18,508 for "demente". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "demente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "depende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #260,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "demente" and "depende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déjense vs demente". 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 #260,623 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