Which to use
“desea” and “deseada” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,653
- “desea” frequency rank
- #16,314
- “deseada” frequency rank
- 18967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desea | deseada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desear. | Forma del femenino de deseado, participio de desear. |
Where the eye mixes desea and deseada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between desea and deseada
A purely visual mix-up. desea ([d̪eˈsea]) and deseada ([d̪eseˈað̞a]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “desea” sits inside “deseada”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desea is recorded at frequency rank #2,653, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈsea]. deseada is at rank #16,314, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eseˈað̞a].
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 18967, this pair ranks #265,728 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of desea vs deseada
Shared letters: ades. Private to "desea": -. Private to "deseada": -.
"desea" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "deseada" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "desea" and "deseada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desea" or "deseada" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "desea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deseada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #265,728 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desea" and "deseada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deseada vs deseosa". 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 #265,728 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.