despiertanvsdespiertesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,375
“despiertan” frequency rank
#35,457
“despiertes” frequency rank
54832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes despiertan and despiertes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. despiertan and despiertes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
despiertan
10 ch
despiertes

Why the eye confuses despiertan with despiertes

A purely visual mix-up. despiertan ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ãn]) and despiertes ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪es]) 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 54832, 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]. despiertes is at rank #35,457, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪es].

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 54832, this pair ranks #81,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of despiertan vs despiertes

Shared letters: deiprst. Private to "despiertan": an. Private to "despiertes": -.

"despiertan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC  ·  "despiertes" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despiertan ← ddespiertan · depsiertan · desipertan · despeirtan · despieratn · despierrtan · despiertann · despiertna
  • despiertes ← ddespiertes · depsiertes · desipertes · despeirtes · despierets · despierrtes · despiertess · despiertse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "despiertan" and "despiertes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ãn] versus [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "despiertan" vs "despiertes" - which ranks higher?
"despiertan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,375 in our Spanish list, against #35,457 for "despiertes". 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 "despiertan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "despiertes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #81,581 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despiertan" and "despiertes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despiertas 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 #81,581 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