Which to use
“empatar” is a verb and “empatía” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,314
- “empatar” frequency rank
- #10,495
- “empatía” frequency rank
- 31809
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empatar | empatía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Quedar iguales los votos de modo que no pueda haber resolución o elección. | Identificación emocional e intelectual con los sentimientos, pensamientos, o actitudes de otros. |
Where the eye mixes empatar and empatía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. empatar (VCCVCVC) and empatía (VCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses empatar with empatía
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empatar is [ẽmpaˈt̪aɾ] while empatía is [ẽmpaˈt̪ia]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31809, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empatar is recorded at frequency rank #21,314, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmpaˈt̪aɾ]. empatía is at rank #10,495, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ẽmpaˈt̪ia].
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 31809, this pair ranks #205,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empatar vs empatía
Shared letters: aempt. Private to "empatar": r. Private to "empatía": í.
"empatar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "empatía" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- empatar ← emaptar · emmpatar · empaatr · empatarr · empatra · empattar · emppatar · emptaar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "empatar" and "empatía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "empatar" or "empatía"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "empatar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "empatía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #205,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empatar" and "empatía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empacar vs empatar". 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 #205,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.