descansanvsdescansarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,655
“descansan” frequency rank
#4,779
“descansar” frequency rank
27434
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descansan descansar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descansar. Interrumpir el trabajo, dejar de trabajar.

Where the eye mixes descansan and descansar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. descansan and descansar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
descansan
9 ch
descansar

Look-alike desk: descansan vs descansar

A purely visual mix-up. descansan ([d̪esˈkãnsãn]) and descansar ([d̪eskãnˈsaɾ]) 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 a single letter - n in “descansan” becomes r in “descansar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27434, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descansan is recorded at frequency rank #22,655, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkãnsãn]. descansar is at rank #4,779, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eskãnˈsaɾ].

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 27434, this pair ranks #226,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descansan vs descansar

Shared letters: acdens. Private to "descansan": -. Private to "descansar": r.

"descansan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descansar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descansan ← ddescansan · decsansan · desacnsan · descanasn · descannsan · descansann · descansna · descanssan
  • descansar ← ddescansar · decsansar · desacnsar · descanasr · descannsar · descansarr · descansra · descanssar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descansan" and "descansar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkãnsãn] versus [d̪eskãnˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "descansan" vs "descansar" - which ranks higher?
"descansar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,779 in our Spanish list, against #22,655 for "descansan". 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 "descansan" and "descansar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descansan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descansar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #226,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descansan" and "descansar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descansaba vs descansan". 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 #226,849 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