Which to use
“espía” and “estira” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,796
- “espía” frequency rank
- #30,071
- “estira” frequency rank
- 38867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espía | estira |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de espiar. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de estirar. |
Where the eye mixes espía and estira
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. espía runs 5 letters (VCCVV) against estira's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses espía with estira
A purely visual mix-up. espía ([esˈpia]) and estira ([esˈt̪iɾa]) 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 38867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espía is recorded at frequency rank #8,796, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈpia]. estira is at rank #30,071, tagged as averb, pronounced [esˈt̪iɾa].
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 38867, this pair ranks #167,658 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of espía vs estira
Shared letters: aes. Private to "espía": pí. Private to "estira": irt.
"espía" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "estira" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- estira ← esitra · esstira · estiar · estria · esttira · etsira · setira
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "espía" and "estira" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "espía" vs "estira" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "espía" and "estira" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "espía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "estira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,658 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espía" and "estira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "estira vs estirada". 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 #167,658 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.