escaseavsescasoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: escasea is a verb, escaso is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“escasea” is a verb and “escaso” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,304
“escasea” frequency rank
#9,635
“escaso” frequency rank
54939
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escasea escaso
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de escasear. Que se presenta en poca cantidad

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set escasea and escaso apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
escasea
6 ch
escaso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: escasea is [eskaˈsea] while escaso is [esˈkaso]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escasea is recorded at frequency rank #45,304, classified as averb, pronounced [eskaˈsea]. escaso is at rank #9,635, tagged as anadj, pronounced [esˈkaso].

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 54939, this pair ranks #81,116 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of escasea vs escaso

Shared letters: aces. Private to "escasea": -. Private to "escaso": o.

"escasea" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "escaso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escaseaecsasea · esacsea · escacea · escaesa · escasae · escassea · esccasea · escsaea
  • escasoecsaso · esacso · escaos · esccaso · escsao · esscaso · secaso

Frequency comparison

escasea#45,304
escaso#9,635

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "escasea" and "escaso" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "escasea" is a verb and "escaso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "escasea" or "escaso"?
"escaso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,635 in our Spanish list, against #45,304 for "escasea". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering escasea vs escaso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “escasea”; for an adjective, it's “escaso”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “escasea” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list