Which to use
“impuesto” is a noun and “impuso” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,029
- “impuesto” frequency rank
- #7,730
- “impuso” frequency rank
- 9759
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | impuesto | impuso |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cuota obligatoria pagada por individuos o instituciones a un gobierno central o local. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de imponer. |
Where the eye mixes impuesto and impuso
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. impuesto runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against impuso's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses impuesto with impuso
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: impuesto is [ĩmˈpwest̪o] while impuso is [ĩmˈpuso]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9759, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
impuesto is recorded at frequency rank #2,029, classified as anoun, pronounced [ĩmˈpwest̪o]. impuso is at rank #7,730, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmˈpuso].
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 9759, this pair ranks #300,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of impuesto vs impuso
Shared letters: imopsu. Private to "impuesto": et. Private to "impuso": -.
"impuesto" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV · "impuso" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "impuesto" and "impuso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "impuesto" or "impuso" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "impuesto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "impuso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "impuesto" and "impuso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "impuso vs imputa". 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 #300,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.