despensavsdespensasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,333
“despensa” frequency rank
#46,488
“despensas” frequency rank
66821
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despensa despensas
Definition Conjunto de comestibles. Expensas.

Where the eye mixes despensa and despensas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

8 ch
despensa
9 ch
despensas

Visual trap between despensa and despensas

A purely visual mix-up. despensa ([d̪esˈpẽnsa]) and despensas ([d̪esˈpẽnsas]) 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 extra letter(s) - “despensa” sits inside “despensas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despensa is recorded at frequency rank #20,333, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpẽnsa]. despensas is at rank #46,488, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpẽnsas].

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 66821, this pair ranks #38,780 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of despensa vs despensas

Shared letters: adenps. Private to "despensa": -. Private to "despensas": -.

"despensa" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "despensas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despensaddespensa · depsensa · desepnsa · despenas · despennsa · despenssa · despesna · despnesa
  • despensasddespensas · depsensas · desepnsas · despenass · despennsas · despensass · despenssas · despesnas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "despensa" and "despensas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpẽnsa] versus [d̪esˈpẽnsas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "despensa" or "despensas"?
"despensa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,333 in our Spanish list, against #46,488 for "despensas". 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 "despensa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despensas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,780 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despensa" and "despensas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despensas vs dispensa". 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 #38,780 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