descansanvsdescarganWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,655
“descansan” frequency rank
#36,516
“descargan” frequency rank
59171
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descansan descargan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descansar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descargar.

Where the eye mixes descansan and descargan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descansan and descargan 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
descargan

Visual trap between descansan and descargan

A purely visual mix-up. descansan ([d̪esˈkãnsãn]) and descargan ([d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59171, 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]. descargan is at rank #36,516, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞ãn].

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 59171, this pair ranks #63,654 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of descansan vs descargan

Shared letters: acdens. Private to "descansan": -. Private to "descargan": gr.

"descansan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descargan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descansan ← ddescansan · decsansan · desacnsan · descanasn · descannsan · descansann · descansna · descanssan
  • descargan ← ddescargan · decsargan · desacrgan · descagran · descaragn · descargann · descarggan · descargna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "descansan" for "descargan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkãnsãn] versus [d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "descansan" or "descargan"?
"descansan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,655 in our Spanish list, against #36,516 for "descargan". 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 "descansan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descargan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #63,654 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descansan" and "descargan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descargan vs descarguen". 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 #63,654 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