Which to use
“desperté” is a verb and “despierto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,800
- “desperté” frequency rank
- #6,284
- “despierto” frequency rank
- 16084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desperté | despierto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de despertar o de despertarse. | En estado de vigilia, no durmiendo. |
Where the eye mixes desperté and despierto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. desperté runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against despierto's 9 (CVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: desperté vs despierto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desperté is [d̪espeɾˈt̪e] while despierto is [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪o]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desperté is recorded at frequency rank #9,800, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeɾˈt̪e]. despierto is at rank #6,284, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪o].
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 16084, this pair ranks #277,554 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of desperté vs despierto
Shared letters: deprst. Private to "desperté": é. Private to "despierto": io.
"desperté" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "despierto" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- despierto ← ddespierto · depsierto · desiperto · despeirto · despierot · despierrto · despiertto · despietro
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "desperté" for "despierto" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desperté" or "despierto" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "desperté" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despierto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,554 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desperté" and "despierto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desperté vs despiste". 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 #277,554 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.