esmerovsespesoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: esmero is a noun, espeso is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#34,572
“esmero” frequency rank
#27,981
“espeso” frequency rank
62553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esmero espeso
Definition Enorme cuidado y atención diligente en hacer las cosas con perfección. Hablando de un fluido, que es denso y fluye con dificultad.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set esmero and espeso apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
esmero
6 ch
espeso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: esmero is [esˈmeɾo] while espeso is [esˈpeso]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

esmero is recorded at frequency rank #34,572, classified as anoun, pronounced [esˈmeɾo]. espeso is at rank #27,981, tagged as anadj, pronounced [esˈpeso].

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 62553, this pair ranks #51,638 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of esmero vs espeso

Shared letters: eos. Private to "esmero": mr. Private to "espeso": p.

"esmero" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "espeso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • esmeroesemro · esmeor · esmerro · esmmero · esmreo · essmero · semero
  • espesoepseso · esepso · espeos · espesso · esppeso · espseo · esspeso · sepeso

Frequency comparison

esmero#34,572
espeso#27,981

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "esmero" and "espeso" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "esmero" is a noun and "espeso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "esmero" or "espeso"?
"espeso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,981 in our Spanish list, against #34,572 for "esmero". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering esmero vs espeso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “esmero”; for an adjective, it's “espeso”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “esmero” 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