divertirvsdivertirseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,340
“divertir” frequency rank
#13,024
“divertirse” frequency rank
41364
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature divertir divertirse
Definition Apartar , desviar, alejar. Apartarse, desviarse, alejarse.

Where the eye mixes divertir and divertirse

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

8 ch
divertir
10 ch
divertirse

Look-alike desk: divertir vs divertirse

A purely visual mix-up. divertir ([d̪iβ̞eɾˈt̪iɾ]) and divertirse ([d̪iβ̞eɾˈt̪iɾse]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “divertir” sits inside “divertirse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

divertir is recorded at frequency rank #28,340, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪iβ̞eɾˈt̪iɾ]. divertirse is at rank #13,024, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪iβ̞eɾˈt̪iɾse].

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 41364, this pair ranks #154,063 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of divertir vs divertirse

Shared letters: deirtv. Private to "divertir": -. Private to "divertirse": s.

"divertir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "divertirse" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • divertir ← ddivertir · dibertir · dievrtir · diveritr · diverrtir · divertirr · divertri · diverttir
  • divertirse ← ddivertirse · dibertirse · dievrtirse · diveritrse · diverrtirse · divertirce · divertires · divertirrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "divertir" and "divertirse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪iβ̞eɾˈt̪iɾ] versus [d̪iβ̞eɾˈt̪iɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "divertir" or "divertirse" show up more?
"divertirse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,024 in our Spanish list, against #28,340 for "divertir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "divertir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "divertirse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154,063 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "divertir" and "divertirse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "divertía vs divertir". 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 #154,063 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