despiertasvsdespiertenWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,403
“despiertas” frequency rank
#20,651
“despierten” frequency rank
47054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despiertas despierten
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) 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 despiertas and despierten

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
despiertas
10 ch
despierten

Why the eye confuses despiertas with despierten

A purely visual mix-up. despiertas ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪as]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despiertas is recorded at frequency rank #26,403, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪as]. 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 47054, this pair ranks #122,205 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of despiertas vs despierten

Shared letters: deiprst. Private to "despiertas": a. Private to "despierten": n.

"despiertas" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC  ·  "despierten" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despiertasddespiertas · depsiertas · desipertas · despeirtas · despierats · despierrtas · despiertass · despiertsa
  • despiertenddespierten · depsierten · desiperten · despeirten · despieretn · despierrten · despiertenn · despiertne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "despiertas" for "despierten" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpjeɾt̪as] versus [d̪esˈpjeɾt̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "despiertas" vs "despierten" - which ranks higher?
"despierten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,651 in our Spanish list, against #26,403 for "despiertas". 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 "despiertas" 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 #122,205 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despiertas" and "despierten" 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 #122,205 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