escaparvsescaparseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,404
“escapar” frequency rank
#24,496
“escaparse” frequency rank
27900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escapar escaparse
Definition Salir de un encierro o peligro. Huir de una situación de peligro.

Where the eye mixes escapar and escaparse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
escapar
9 ch
escaparse

Why the eye confuses escapar with escaparse

A purely visual mix-up. escapar ([eskaˈpaɾ]) and escaparse ([eskaˈpaɾse]) 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) - “escapar” sits inside “escaparse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escapar is recorded at frequency rank #3,404, classified as averb, pronounced [eskaˈpaɾ]. escaparse is at rank #24,496, tagged as averb, pronounced [eskaˈpaɾse].

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 27900, this pair ranks #224,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escapar vs escaparse

Shared letters: aceprs. Private to "escapar": -. Private to "escaparse": -.

"escapar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "escaparse" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escaparecsapar · esacpar · escaapr · escaparr · escappar · escapra · esccapar · escpaar
  • escaparseecsaparse · esacparse · escaaprse · escaparce · escapares · escaparrse · escaparsse · escapasre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "escapar" for "escaparse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([eskaˈpaɾ] versus [eskaˈpaɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "escapar" vs "escaparse" - which ranks higher?
"escapar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,404 in our Spanish list, against #24,496 for "escaparse". 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 "escapar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escaparse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #224,619 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escapar" and "escaparse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escapar vs escarbar". 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 #224,619 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