desatavsdistaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,654
“desata” frequency rank
#19,999
“dista” frequency rank
42653
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes desata and dista

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. desata runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against dista's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
desata
5 ch
dista

Visual trap between desata and dista

A purely visual mix-up. desata ([d̪eˈsat̪a]) and dista ([ˈd̪ist̪a]) 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 42653, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desata is recorded at frequency rank #22,654, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsat̪a]. dista is at rank #19,999, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪ist̪a].

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 42653, this pair ranks #147,005 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of desata vs dista

Shared letters: adst. Private to "desata": e. Private to "dista": i.

"desata" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "dista" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desata ← ddesata · deasta · desaat · desatta · dessata · destaa · dseata · edsata
  • dista ← ddista · disat · dissta · distta · ditsa · dsita · idsta

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "desata" for "dista" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈsat̪a] versus [ˈd̪ist̪a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "desata" vs "dista" - which ranks higher?
"dista" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,999 in our Spanish list, against #22,654 for "desata". 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 "desata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dista" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,005 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desata" and "dista" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delatan vs desata". 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 #147,005 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