promesasvspropensasTell them apart

Quick tell: promesas is a noun, propensas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,373
“promesas” frequency rank
#39,405
“propensas” frequency rank
43778
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature promesas propensas
Definition Forma del plural de promesa. Forma del femenino plural de propenso.

Where the eye mixes promesas and propensas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. promesas runs 8 letters (CCVCVCVC) against propensas's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
promesas
9 ch
propensas

Why the eye confuses promesas with propensas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: promesas is [pɾoˈmesas] while propensas is [pɾoˈpẽnsas]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

promesas is recorded at frequency rank #4,373, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɾoˈmesas]. propensas is at rank #39,405, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pɾoˈpẽnsas].

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 43778, this pair ranks #140,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of promesas vs propensas

Shared letters: aeoprs. Private to "promesas": m. Private to "propensas": n.

"promesas" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "propensas" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • promesaspormesas · ppromesas · prmoesas · proemsas · promeass · promesass · promessas · prommesas
  • propensasporpensas · ppropensas · proepnsas · propenass · propennsas · propensass · propenssa · propenssas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "promesas" for "propensas" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "promesas" is a noun and "propensas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "promesas" or "propensas"?
"promesas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,373 in our Spanish list, against #39,405 for "propensas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "promesas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "propensas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #140,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "promesas" and "propensas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prensas vs propensas". 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 #140,764 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list