Which to use
“describe” and “describes” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,394
- “describe” frequency rank
- #49,572
- “describes” frequency rank
- 52966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | describe | describes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de describir. | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de describir. |
Where the eye mixes describe and describes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. describe runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against describes's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between describe and describes
A purely visual mix-up. describe ([d̪esˈkɾiβ̞e]) and describes ([d̪esˈkɾiβ̞es]) 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 extra letter(s) - “describe” sits inside “describes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
describe is recorded at frequency rank #3,394, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkɾiβ̞e]. describes is at rank #49,572, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈkɾiβ̞es].
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 52966, this pair ranks #90,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of describe vs describes
Shared letters: bcdeirs. Private to "describe": -. Private to "describes": -.
"describe" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV · "describes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "describe" and "describes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "describe" or "describes"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "describe" and "describes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "describe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "describes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "describe" and "describes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "describes vs describo". 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 #90,208 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.