despertaronvsdespertarseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,470
“despertaron” frequency rank
#24,471
“despertarse” frequency rank
48941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despertaron despertarse
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de despertar o de despertarse. Salir del estado de sueño

Where the eye mixes despertaron and despertarse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. despertaron (CVCCVCCVCVC) and despertarse (CVCCVCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
despertaron
11 ch
despertarse

Look-alike desk: despertaron vs despertarse

A purely visual mix-up. despertaron ([d̪espeɾˈt̪aɾõn]) and despertarse ([d̪espeɾˈt̪aɾse]) 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 48941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despertaron is recorded at frequency rank #24,470, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeɾˈt̪aɾõn]. despertarse is at rank #24,471, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪espeɾˈt̪aɾse].

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 48941, this pair ranks #111,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of despertaron vs despertarse

Shared letters: adeprst. Private to "despertaron": no. Private to "despertarse": -.

"despertaron" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCVC  ·  "despertarse" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despertaron ← ddespertaron · depsertaron · deseprtaron · desperatron · desperrtaron · despertaorn · despertarno · despertaronn
  • despertarse ← ddespertarse · depsertarse · deseprtarse · desperatrse · desperrtarse · despertarce · despertares · despertarrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "despertaron" and "despertarse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪espeɾˈt̪aɾõn] versus [d̪espeɾˈt̪aɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "despertaron" or "despertarse" show up more?
"despertaron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,470 in our Spanish list, against #24,471 for "despertarse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "despertaron" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despertarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despertaron" and "despertarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despertaron vs dispersaron". 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 #111,647 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