descansavsdescansadoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,844
“descansa” frequency rank
#34,543
“descansado” frequency rank
42387
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descansa descansado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descansar. Participio de descansar.

Where the eye mixes descansa and descansado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. descansa runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against descansado's 10 (CVCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
descansa
10 ch
descansado

Look-alike desk: descansa vs descansado

A purely visual mix-up. descansa ([d̪esˈkãnsa]) and descansado ([d̪eskãnˈsað̞o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “descansa” sits inside “descansado”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42387, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descansa is recorded at frequency rank #7,844, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkãnsa]. descansado is at rank #34,543, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eskãnˈsað̞o].

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 42387, this pair ranks #148,506 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descansa vs descansado

Shared letters: acdens. Private to "descansa": -. Private to "descansado": o.

"descansa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "descansado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descansa ← ddescansa · decsansa · desacnsa · descanas · descannsa · descanssa · descasna · desccansa
  • descansado ← ddescansado · decsansado · desacnsado · descanasdo · descannsado · descansaddo · descansaod · descansdao

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descansa" and "descansado" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkãnsa] versus [d̪eskãnˈsað̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "descansa" or "descansado" show up more?
"descansa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,844 in our Spanish list, against #34,543 for "descansado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "descansa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descansado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #148,506 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descansa" and "descansado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descansaba vs descansado". 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 #148,506 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