espesovsesposaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#27,981
“espeso” frequency rank
#1,111
“esposa” frequency rank
29092
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espeso esposa
Definition Hablando de un fluido, que es denso y fluye con dificultad. Mujer casada con respecto de su cónyuge.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
espeso
6 ch
esposa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espeso is [esˈpeso] while esposa is [esˈposa]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espeso is recorded at frequency rank #27,981, classified as anadj, pronounced [esˈpeso]. esposa is at rank #1,111, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈposa].

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 29092, this pair ranks #218,729 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espeso vs esposa

Shared letters: eops. Private to "espeso": -. Private to "esposa": a.

"espeso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "esposa" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espesoepseso · esepso · espeos · espesso · esppeso · espseo · esspeso · sepeso
  • esposaepsosa · esopsa · espoas · espossa · espposa · espsoa · essposa · seposa

Frequency comparison

espeso#27,981
esposa#1,111

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "espeso" and "esposa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "espeso" is an adjective and "esposa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "espeso" or "esposa"?
"esposa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,111 in our Spanish list, against #27,981 for "espeso". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering espeso vs esposa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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