Which to use
“despertó” and “despierta” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,104
- “despertó” frequency rank
- #4,074
- “despierta” frequency rank
- 12178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despertó | despierta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de despertar o de despertarse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despertar o de despertarse. |
Where the eye mixes despertó and despierta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. despertó runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against despierta's 9 (CVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses despertó with despierta
A purely visual mix-up. despertó ([d̪espeɾˈt̪o]) and despierta ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪a]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despertó is recorded at frequency rank #8,104, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeɾˈt̪o]. despierta is at rank #4,074, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪a].
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 12178, this pair ranks #292,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of despertó vs despierta
Shared letters: deprst. Private to "despertó": ó. Private to "despierta": ai.
"despertó" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "despierta" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- despierta ← ddespierta · depsierta · desiperta · despeirta · despierat · despierrta · despiertta · despietra
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "despertó" for "despierta" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "despertó" or "despierta" 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 "despertó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despierta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #292,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despertó" and "despierta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "descarto vs despertó". 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 #292,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.