descontadovsdescontandoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#36,517
“descontado” frequency rank
#47,059
“descontando” frequency rank
83576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descontado descontando
Definition Participio de descontar. Gerundio de descontar.

Where the eye mixes descontado and descontando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. descontado runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVCV) against descontando's 11 (CVCCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
descontado
11 ch
descontando

Why the eye confuses descontado with descontando

A purely visual mix-up. descontado ([d̪eskõn̪ˈt̪að̞o]) and descontando ([d̪eskõn̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83576, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descontado is recorded at frequency rank #36,517, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eskõn̪ˈt̪að̞o]. descontando is at rank #47,059, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eskõn̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o].

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 83576, this pair ranks #7,999 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of descontado vs descontando

Shared letters: acdenost. Private to "descontado": -. Private to "descontando": -.

"descontado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV  ·  "descontando" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descontado ← ddescontado · decsontado · desccontado · descnotado · desconatdo · desconntado · descontaddo · descontaod
  • descontando ← ddescontando · decsontando · desccontando · descnotando · desconatndo · desconntando · descontadno · descontanddo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "descontado" for "descontando" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eskõn̪ˈt̪að̞o] versus [d̪eskõn̪ˈt̪ãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "descontado" vs "descontando" - which ranks higher?
"descontado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,517 in our Spanish list, against #47,059 for "descontando". 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 "descontado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descontando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,999 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "descontado" and "descontando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descartando vs descontando". 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 #7,999 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