deshacenvsdestacanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#44,688
“deshacen” frequency rank
#5,821
“destacan” frequency rank
50509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deshacen destacan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de deshacer o de deshacerse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de destacar.

Where the eye mixes deshacen and destacan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. deshacen and destacan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
deshacen
8 ch
destacan

Visual trap between deshacen and destacan

A purely visual mix-up. deshacen ([d̪esˈasẽn]) and destacan ([d̪esˈt̪akãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deshacen is recorded at frequency rank #44,688, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈasẽn]. destacan is at rank #5,821, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪akãn].

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 50509, this pair ranks #102,824 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of deshacen vs destacan

Shared letters: acdens. Private to "deshacen": h. Private to "destacan": t.

"deshacen" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "destacan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deshacen ← ddeshacen · dehsacen · desahcen · deshaccen · deshacenn · deshacne · deshaecn · deshasen
  • destacan ← ddestacan · desatcan · desstacan · destaacn · destacann · destaccan · destacna · destcaan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deshacen" and "destacan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈasẽn] versus [d̪esˈt̪akãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "deshacen" or "destacan"?
"destacan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,821 in our Spanish list, against #44,688 for "deshacen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "deshacen" and "destacan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "deshacen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destacan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #102,824 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "deshacen" and "destacan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deshace vs deshacen". 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 #102,824 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