descartanvsdescartarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,153
“descartan” frequency rank
#12,578
“descartar” frequency rank
51731
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descartan descartar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de descartar o de descartarse. Eliminar algo de una lista, una categoría, o algún otro grupo de cosas.

Where the eye mixes descartan and descartar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. descartan 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
descartan
9 ch
descartar

Visual trap between descartan and descartar

A purely visual mix-up. descartan ([d̪esˈkaɾt̪ãn]) 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 differ by a single letter - n in “descartan” becomes r in “descartar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51731, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descartan is recorded at frequency rank #39,153, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkaɾt̪ãn]. 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 51731, this pair ranks #96,352 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of descartan vs descartar

Shared letters: acderst. Private to "descartan": n. Private to "descartar": -.

"descartan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "descartar" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descartan ← ddescartan · decsartan · desacrtan · descaratn · descarrtan · descartann · descartna · descarttan
  • descartar ← ddescartar · decsartar · desacrtar · descaratr · descarrtar · descartarr · descartra · descarttar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "descartan" for "descartar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈkaɾt̪ãn] versus [d̪eskaɾˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "descartan" or "descartar"?
"descartar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,578 in our Spanish list, against #39,153 for "descartan". 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 "descartan" 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 #96,352 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descartan" and "descartar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descartan vs descarto". 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 #96,352 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