Which to use
“empezó” is a verb and “espejo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,243
- “empezó” frequency rank
- #3,178
- “espejo” frequency rank
- 4421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empezó | espejo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de empezar. | Superficie capaz de reflejar la luz y suficientemente clara como para formar una imagen. |
Where the eye mixes empezó and espejo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. empezó and espejo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: empezó vs espejo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: empezó is [ẽmpeˈso] while espejo is [esˈpexo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 4421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empezó is recorded at frequency rank #1,243, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽmpeˈso]. espejo is at rank #3,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈpexo].
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 4421, this pair ranks #316,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of empezó vs espejo
Shared letters: ep. Private to "empezó": mzó. Private to "espejo": jos.
"empezó" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "espejo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- espejo ← epsejo · esepjo · espejjo · espeoj · espjeo · esppejo · esspejo · sepejo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "empezó" and "espejo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "empezó" vs "espejo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "empezó" and "espejo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empezó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espejo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empezó" and "espejo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empujo vs espejo". 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 #316,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.