descansavsdescansosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: descansa is a verb, descansos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“descansa” is a verb and “descansos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,844
“descansa” frequency rank
#34,979
“descansos” frequency rank
42823
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descansa descansos
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descansar. Forma del plural de descanso.

Where the eye mixes descansa and descansos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descansa runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against descansos's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
descansa
9 ch
descansos

Why the eye confuses descansa with descansos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: descansa is [d̪esˈkãnsa] while descansos is [d̪esˈkãnsos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42823, 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]. descansos is at rank #34,979, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈkãnsos].

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 42823, this pair ranks #146,099 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descansa vs descansos

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

"descansa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "descansos" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descansa ← ddescansa · decsansa · desacnsa · descanas · descannsa · descanssa · descasna · desccansa
  • descansos ← ddescansos · decsansos · desacnsos · descannsos · descanoss · descansoss · descanssos · descasnos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "descansa" for "descansos" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "descansa" is a verb and "descansos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "descansa" vs "descansos" - which ranks higher?
"descansa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,844 in our Spanish list, against #34,979 for "descansos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descansa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descansos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,099 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descansa" and "descansos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descansos vs descensos". 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 #146,099 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