desfilanvsdestilaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,855
“desfilan” frequency rank
#43,517
“destila” frequency rank
85372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desfilan destila
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desfilar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de destilar.

Where the eye mixes desfilan and destila

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. desfilan runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against destila's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
desfilan
7 ch
destila

Look-alike desk: desfilan vs destila

A purely visual mix-up. desfilan ([d̪esˈfilãn]) and destila ([d̪esˈt̪ila]) 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 85372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desfilan is recorded at frequency rank #41,855, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈfilãn]. destila is at rank #43,517, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪ila].

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 85372, this pair ranks #6,185 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desfilan vs destila

Shared letters: adeils. Private to "desfilan": fn. Private to "destila": t.

"desfilan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "destila" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desfilan ← ddesfilan · defsilan · desffilan · desfialn · desfilann · desfillan · desfilna · desflian
  • destila ← ddestila · desitla · desstila · destial · destilla · destlia · desttila · detsila

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "desfilan" and "destila" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈfilãn] versus [d̪esˈt̪ila]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desfilan" or "destila" show up more?
"desfilan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,855 in our Spanish list, against #43,517 for "destila". 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 "desfilan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destila" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,185 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desfilan" and "destila" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destapa vs destila". 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 #6,185 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