descargarvsdescargasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,780
“descargar” frequency rank
#11,205
“descargas” frequency rank
15985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descargar descargas
Definition Retirar o bajar la carga de un transporte. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de descargar.

Where the eye mixes descargar and descargas

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

9 ch
descargar
9 ch
descargas

Why the eye confuses descargar with descargas

A purely visual mix-up. descargar ([d̪eskaɾˈɣ̞aɾ]) and descargas ([d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞as]) 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 - r in “descargar” becomes s in “descargas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descargar is recorded at frequency rank #4,780, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eskaɾˈɣ̞aɾ]. descargas is at rank #11,205, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞as].

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 15985, this pair ranks #277,978 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of descargar vs descargas

Shared letters: acdegrs. Private to "descargar": -. Private to "descargas": -.

"descargar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descargas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descargar ← ddescargar · decsargar · desacrgar · descagrar · descaragr · descargarr · descarggar · descargra
  • descargas ← ddescargas · decsargas · desacrgas · descagras · descarags · descargass · descarggas · descargsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descargar" and "descargas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eskaɾˈɣ̞aɾ] versus [d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "descargar" vs "descargas" - which ranks higher?
"descargar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,780 in our Spanish list, against #11,205 for "descargas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descargar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descargas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #277,978 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descargar" and "descargas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descargada vs descargas". 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 #277,978 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