espesavsestésWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,322
“espesa” frequency rank
#2,660
“estés” frequency rank
23982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espesa estés
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de espesar. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de subjuntivo de estar.

Where the eye mixes espesa and estés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
espesa
5 ch
estés

Why the eye confuses espesa with estés

A purely visual mix-up. espesa ([esˈpesa]) and estés ([esˈt̪es]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23982, 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]. estés is at rank #2,660, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪es].

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 23982, this pair ranks #243,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espesa vs estés

Shared letters: es. Private to "espesa": ap. Private to "estés": .

"espesa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "estés" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espesaepsesa · esepsa · espeas · espessa · esppesa · espsea · esspesa · sepesa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "espesa" for "estés" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([esˈpesa] versus [esˈt̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "espesa" vs "estés" - which ranks higher?
"estés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,660 in our Spanish list, against #21,322 for "espesa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "espesa" and "estés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "espesa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "espesa" and "estés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esperad vs espesa". 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 #243,280 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