descargasvsdescartarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,205
“descargas” frequency rank
#12,578
“descartar” frequency rank
23783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descargas descartar
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de descargar. Eliminar algo de una lista, una categoría, o algún otro grupo de cosas.

Where the eye mixes descargas and descartar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. descargas and descartar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
descargas
9 ch
descartar

Why the eye confuses descargas with descartar

A purely visual mix-up. descargas ([d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞as]) and descartar ([d̪eskaɾˈt̪aɾ]) 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 23783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descargas is recorded at frequency rank #11,205, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞as]. descartar is at rank #12,578, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eskaɾˈt̪aɾ].

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 23783, this pair ranks #244,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descargas vs descartar

Shared letters: acders. Private to "descargas": g. Private to "descartar": t.

"descargas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descartar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descargas ← ddescargas · decsargas · desacrgas · descagras · descarags · descargass · descarggas · descargsa
  • descartar ← ddescartar · decsartar · desacrtar · descaratr · descarrtar · descartarr · descartra · descarttar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "descargas" for "descartar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkaɾɣ̞as] versus [d̪eskaɾˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "descargas" or "descartar" show up more?
"descargas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,205 in our Spanish list, against #12,578 for "descartar". 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 "descargas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descartar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descargas" and "descartar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descartar vs desertar". 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 #244,174 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