despiertanvsdespiertenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,375
“despiertan” frequency rank
#20,651
“despierten” frequency rank
40026
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despiertan despierten
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de despertar o de despertarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de despertar o de despertarse.

Where the eye mixes despiertan and despierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
despiertan
10 ch
despierten

Look-alike desk: despiertan vs despierten

A purely visual mix-up. despiertan ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ãn]) and despierten ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ẽn]) 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 a single letter - a in “despiertan” becomes e in “despierten”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despiertan is recorded at frequency rank #19,375, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ãn]. despierten is at rank #20,651, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ẽn].

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 40026, this pair ranks #161,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of despiertan vs despierten

Shared letters: deinprst. Private to "despiertan": a. Private to "despierten": -.

"despiertan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC  ·  "despierten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despiertanddespiertan · depsiertan · desipertan · despeirtan · despieratn · despierrtan · despiertann · despiertna
  • despiertenddespierten · depsierten · desiperten · despeirten · despieretn · despierrten · despiertenn · despiertne

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "despiertan" and "despierten" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ãn] versus [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "despiertan" or "despierten"?
"despiertan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,375 in our Spanish list, against #20,651 for "despierten". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "despiertan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despierten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #161,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despiertan" and "despierten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despierten vs despiertes". 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 #161,338 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