Which to use
“despega” and “desvela” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,988
- “despega” frequency rank
- #31,314
- “desvela” frequency rank
- 67302
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despega | desvela |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despegar o de despegarse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desvelar. |
Where the eye mixes despega and desvela
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses despega with desvela
A purely visual mix-up. despega ([d̪esˈpeɣ̞a]) and desvela ([d̪esˈβ̞ela]) 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 67302, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despega is recorded at frequency rank #35,988, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpeɣ̞a]. desvela is at rank #31,314, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈβ̞ela].
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 67302, this pair ranks #37,488 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of despega vs desvela
Shared letters: ades. Private to "despega": gp. Private to "desvela": lv.
"despega" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "desvela" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "despega" and "desvela" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "despega" or "desvela" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "despega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desvela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,488 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despega" and "desvela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desvela vs develar". 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 #37,488 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.