Which to use
“desafían” and “desfilan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,298
- “desafían” frequency rank
- #41,855
- “desfilan” frequency rank
- 83153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desafían | desfilan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desafiar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desfilar. |
Where the eye mixes desafían and desfilan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. desafían (CVCVCVVC) and desfilan (CVCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between desafían and desfilan
A purely visual mix-up. desafían ([d̪esaˈfiãn]) and desfilan ([d̪esˈfilãn]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desafían is recorded at frequency rank #41,298, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esaˈfiãn]. desfilan is at rank #41,855, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈfilãn].
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 83153, this pair ranks #8,423 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of desafían vs desfilan
Shared letters: adefns. Private to "desafían": í. Private to "desfilan": il.
"desafían" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "desfilan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- desfilan ← ddesfilan · defsilan · desffilan · desfialn · desfilann · desfillan · desfilna · desflian
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "desafían" and "desfilan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desafían" or "desfilan" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "desafían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desfilan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,423 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desafían" and "desfilan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desfilan vs desfilando". 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 #8,423 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.