destacanvsdestacoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,821
“destacan” frequency rank
#38,642
“destaco” frequency rank
44463
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature destacan destaco
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de destacar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de destacar.

Where the eye mixes destacan and destaco

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. destacan runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against destaco's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
destacan
7 ch
destaco

Visual trap between destacan and destaco

A purely visual mix-up. destacan ([d̪esˈt̪akãn]) and destaco ([d̪esˈt̪ako]) 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 44463, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

destacan is recorded at frequency rank #5,821, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪akãn]. destaco is at rank #38,642, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈt̪ako].

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 44463, this pair ranks #136,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of destacan vs destaco

Shared letters: acdest. Private to "destacan": n. Private to "destaco": o.

"destacan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "destaco" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • destacan ← ddestacan · desatcan · desstacan · destaacn · destacann · destaccan · destacna · destcaan
  • destaco ← ddestaco · desatco · desstaco · destacco · destaoc · destcao · desttaco · detsaco

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "destacan" and "destaco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈt̪akãn] versus [d̪esˈt̪ako]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "destacan" or "destaco"?
"destacan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,821 in our Spanish list, against #38,642 for "destaco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "destacan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "destaco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #136,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "destacan" and "destaco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destaco vs destapa". 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 #136,920 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