Which to use
“despeja” is a verb and “despensa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,763
- “despeja” frequency rank
- #20,333
- “despensa” frequency rank
- 61096
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despeja | despensa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despejar. | Conjunto de comestibles. |
Where the eye mixes despeja and despensa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despeja runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against despensa's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses despeja with despensa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: despeja is [d̪esˈpexa] while despensa is [d̪esˈpẽnsa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despeja is recorded at frequency rank #40,763, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpexa]. despensa is at rank #20,333, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpẽnsa].
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 61096, this pair ranks #56,659 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of despeja vs despensa
Shared letters: adeps. Private to "despeja": j. Private to "despensa": n.
"despeja" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "despensa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "despeja" for "despensa" ever safe?
Frequency check: "despeja" vs "despensa" - which ranks higher?
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 "despeja" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despensa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,659 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despeja" and "despensa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despeja vs despojar". 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 #56,659 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.