espasavsespesaTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#30,893
“espasa” frequency rank
#21,322
“espesa” frequency rank
52215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espasa espesa
Definition Espada. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de espesar.

Where the eye mixes espasa and espesa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. espasa and espesa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
espasa
6 ch
espesa

Visual trap between espasa and espesa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espasa is [əsˈpa.zə] while espesa is [esˈpesa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “espasa” becomes e in “espesa”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espasa is recorded at frequency rank #30,893, classified as anoun, pronounced [əsˈpa.zə]. espesa is at rank #21,322, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈpesa].

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 52215, this pair ranks #93,836 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espasa vs espesa

Shared letters: aeps. Private to "espasa": -. Private to "espesa": -.

"espasa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "espesa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espasa ← epsasa · esapsa · espaas · espassa · esppasa · espsaa · esspasa · sepasa
  • espesa ← epsesa · esepsa · espeas · espessa · esppesa · espsea · esspesa · sepesa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "espasa" and "espesa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "espasa" is a noun and "espesa" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "espasa" or "espesa"?
"espesa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,322 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.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "espasa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "espesa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #93,836 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espasa" and "espesa" 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 #93,836 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