desarrollarvsdesarrolleTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,288
“desarrollar” frequency rank
#17,402
“desarrolle” frequency rank
19690
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desarrollar desarrolle
Definition Desplegar, estirar lo que estaba arrollado. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de desarrollar o de desarrollarse.

Where the eye mixes desarrollar and desarrolle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. desarrollar runs 11 letters (CVCVCCVCCVC) against desarrolle's 10 (CVCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
desarrollar
10 ch
desarrolle

Visual trap between desarrollar and desarrolle

A purely visual mix-up. desarrollar ([d̪esaroˈʝaɾ]) and desarrolle ([d̪esaˈroʝe]) 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 19690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desarrollar is recorded at frequency rank #2,288, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esaroˈʝaɾ]. desarrolle is at rank #17,402, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esaˈroʝe].

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 19690, this pair ranks #262,622 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of desarrollar vs desarrolle

Shared letters: adelors. Private to "desarrollar": -. Private to "desarrolle": -.

"desarrollar" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVC  ·  "desarrolle" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desarrollar ← ddesarrollar · deasrrollar · desarollar · desarorllar · desarrlolar · desarrolalr · desarrolar · desarrollarr
  • desarrolle ← ddesarrolle · deasrrolle · desarolle · desarorlle · desarrlole · desarrole · desarrolel · desrarolle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "desarrollar" for "desarrolle" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esaroˈʝaɾ] versus [d̪esaˈroʝe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "desarrollar" or "desarrolle"?
"desarrollar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,288 in our Spanish list, against #17,402 for "desarrolle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "desarrollar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desarrolle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,622 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desarrollar" and "desarrolle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desarrollar vs desarrollarán". 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 #262,622 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