esperaronvsesperarseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#29,205
“esperaron” frequency rank
#15,851
“esperarse” frequency rank
45056
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esperaron esperarse
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de esperar o de esperarse. Ser esperado.

Where the eye mixes esperaron and esperarse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. esperaron (VCCVCVCVC) and esperarse (VCCVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
esperaron
9 ch
esperarse

Why the eye confuses esperaron with esperarse

A purely visual mix-up. esperaron ([espeˈɾaɾõn]) and esperarse ([espeˈɾaɾse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45056, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

esperaron is recorded at frequency rank #29,205, classified as averb, pronounced [espeˈɾaɾõn]. esperarse is at rank #15,851, tagged as averb, pronounced [espeˈɾaɾse].

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 45056, this pair ranks #133,648 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of esperaron vs esperarse

Shared letters: aeprs. Private to "esperaron": no. Private to "esperarse": -.

"esperaron" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC  ·  "esperarse" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • esperaron ← epseraron · esepraron · espearron · esperaorn · esperarno · esperaronn · esperarron · esperraon
  • esperarse ← epserarse · eseprarse · espearrse · esperarce · esperares · esperarrse · esperarsse · esperasre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "esperaron" for "esperarse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([espeˈɾaɾõn] versus [espeˈɾaɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "esperaron" or "esperarse"?
"esperarse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,851 in our Spanish list, against #29,205 for "esperaron". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "esperaron" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "esperarse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #133,648 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "esperaron" and "esperarse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esperará vs esperaron". 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 #133,648 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