Which to use
“persisten” is a verb and “persistente” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,399
- “persisten” frequency rank
- #14,201
- “persistente” frequency rank
- 39600
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | persisten | persistente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de persistir. | Que persiste, que permanece a pesar de los intentos por que se vaya. |
Where the eye mixes persisten and persistente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between persisten and persistente
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: persisten is [peɾˈsist̪ẽn] while persistente is [peɾsisˈt̪ẽn̪t̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “persisten” sits inside “persistente”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
persisten is recorded at frequency rank #25,399, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾˈsist̪ẽn]. persistente is at rank #14,201, tagged as anadj, pronounced [peɾsisˈt̪ẽn̪t̪e].
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 39600, this pair ranks #163,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of persisten vs persistente
Shared letters: einprst. Private to "persisten": -. Private to "persistente": -.
"persisten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "persistente" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- persisten ← eprsisten · percisten · perissten · perrsisten · persisetn · persissten · persistenn · persistne
- persistente ← eprsistente · percistente · perisstente · perrsistente · persisetnte · persisstente · persistenet · persistennte
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "persisten" and "persistente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "persisten" or "persistente" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "persisten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persistente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #163,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "persisten" and "persistente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persisten vs persistir". 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 #163,661 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.