Which to use
“empeña” and “espesa” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,086
- “empeña” frequency rank
- #21,322
- “espesa” frequency rank
- 55408
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empeña | espesa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de empeñar o de empeñarse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de espesar. |
Where the eye mixes empeña and espesa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. empeña and espesa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: empeña vs espesa
A purely visual mix-up. empeña ([ẽmˈpeɲa]) and espesa ([esˈpesa]) 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 55408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empeña is recorded at frequency rank #34,086, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmˈpeɲa]. espesa is at rank #21,322, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈpesa].
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 55408, this pair ranks #79,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empeña vs espesa
Shared letters: aep. Private to "empeña": mñ. Private to "espesa": s.
"empeña" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "espesa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- espesa ← epsesa · esepsa · espeas · espessa · esppesa · espsea · esspesa · sepesa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empeña" for "espesa" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "empeña" or "espesa" show up more?
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 "empeña" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espesa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empeña" and "espesa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empeña vs empeños". 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 #79,027 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.