desplazavsdesplazadoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: desplaza is a verb, desplazado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“desplaza” is a verb and “desplazado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,652
“desplaza” frequency rank
#19,698
“desplazado” frequency rank
40350
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desplaza desplazado
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desplazar o de desplazarse. Se dice de alguien que no se adapta o que no encaja bien en su entorno o en determinadas circunstancias.

Where the eye mixes desplaza and desplazado

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. desplaza runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against desplazado's 10 (CVCCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
desplaza
10 ch
desplazado

Look-alike desk: desplaza vs desplazado

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desplaza is [d̪esˈplasa] while desplazado is [d̪esplaˈsað̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “desplaza” sits inside “desplazado”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desplaza is recorded at frequency rank #20,652, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈplasa]. desplazado is at rank #19,698, tagged as anadj, pronounced [d̪esplaˈsað̞o].

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 40350, this pair ranks #159,578 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of desplaza vs desplazado

Shared letters: adelpsz. Private to "desplaza": -. Private to "desplazado": o.

"desplaza" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "desplazado" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desplaza ← ddesplaza · depslaza · deslpaza · despalza · desplaaz · desplazza · despllaza · desplzaa
  • desplazado ← ddesplazado · depslazado · deslpazado · despalzado · desplaazdo · desplazaddo · desplazaod · desplazdao

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "desplaza" for "desplazado" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "desplaza" is a verb and "desplazado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desplaza" or "desplazado" show up more?
"desplazado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,698 in our Spanish list, against #20,652 for "desplaza". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "desplaza" and "desplazado" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "desplaza" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desplazado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #159,578 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desplaza" and "desplazado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desplaza vs desploma". 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 #159,578 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