espesavsespesoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#21,322
“espesa” frequency rank
#27,981
“espeso” frequency rank
49303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espesa espeso
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de espesar. Hablando de un fluido, que es denso y fluye con dificultad.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
espesa
6 ch
espeso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espesa is [esˈpesa] while espeso is [esˈpeso]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “espesa” becomes o in “espeso”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espesa is recorded at frequency rank #21,322, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈpesa]. 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 49303, this pair ranks #109,601 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espesa vs espeso

Shared letters: eps. Private to "espesa": a. Private to "espeso": o.

"espesa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "espeso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espesaepsesa · esepsa · espeas · espessa · esppesa · espsea · esspesa · sepesa
  • espesoepseso · esepso · espeos · espesso · esppeso · espseo · esspeso · sepeso

Frequency comparison

espesa#21,322
espeso#27,981

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "espesa" and "espeso" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "espesa" is a verb and "espeso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "espesa" or "espeso"?
"espesa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,322 in our Spanish list, against #27,981 for "espeso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering espesa vs espeso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “espesa”; for an adjective, it's “espeso”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “espesa” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list