pensévspesaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pensé is a verb, pesa is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pensé” is a verb and “pesa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,522
“pensé” frequency rank
#6,938
“pesa” frequency rank
8460
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pensé pesa
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de pensar. Pieza empleada en la balanza como patrón de medida para pesar objetos.

Where the eye mixes pensé and pesa

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

5 ch
pensé
4 ch
pesa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pensé is [pẽnˈse] while pesa is [ˈpesa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8460, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pensé is recorded at frequency rank #1,522, classified as averb, pronounced [pẽnˈse]. pesa is at rank #6,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpesa].

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 8460, this pair ranks #304,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pensé vs pesa

Shared letters: eps. Private to "pensé": . Private to "pesa": a.

"pensé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pesa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pesaepsa · peas · pessa · ppesa · psea

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pensé" and "pesa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pensé" is a verb and "pesa" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pensé" or "pesa"?
"pensé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,522 in our Spanish list, against #6,938 for "pesa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "pensé" and "pesa". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pensé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pesa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #304,918 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pensé" and "pesa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pesa vs presea". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list