escasasvsespasaConfusable pair

Quick tell: escasas is a adjective, espasa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“escasas” is an adjective and “espasa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,598
“escasas” frequency rank
#30,893
“espasa” frequency rank
43491
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escasas espasa
Definition Forma del femenino plural de escaso. Espada.

Where the eye mixes escasas and espasa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. escasas runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against espasa's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
escasas
6 ch
espasa

Why the eye confuses escasas with espasa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: escasas is [esˈkasas] while espasa is [əsˈpa.zə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escasas is recorded at frequency rank #12,598, classified as anadj, pronounced [esˈkasas]. espasa is at rank #30,893, tagged as anoun, pronounced [əsˈpa.zə].

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 43491, this pair ranks #142,337 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escasas vs espasa

Shared letters: aes. Private to "escasas": c. Private to "espasa": p.

"escasas" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "espasa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escasas ← ecsasas · esacsas · escaass · escasass · escassas · esccasas · escsaas · esscasas
  • espasa ← epsasa · esapsa · espaas · espassa · esppasa · espsaa · esspasa · sepasa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "escasas" for "espasa" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "escasas" is an adjective and "espasa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "escasas" vs "espasa" - which ranks higher?
"escasas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,598 in our Spanish list, against #30,893 for "espasa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "escasas" and "espasa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "escasas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "espasa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #142,337 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escasas" and "espasa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escasea vs espasa". 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 #142,337 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