quemovsquepaWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#26,583
“quemo” frequency rank
#27,367
“quepa” frequency rank
53950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quemo quepa
Definition Cosa, costumbre, hábito o práctica que ha pasado de moda. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de caber.

Where the eye mixes quemo and quepa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. quemo and quepa follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
quemo
5 ch
quepa

Why the eye confuses quemo with quepa

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quemo is [ˈkemo] while quepa is [ˈkepa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quemo is recorded at frequency rank #26,583, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkemo]. quepa is at rank #27,367, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkepa].

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 53950, this pair ranks #85,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quemo vs quepa

Shared letters: equ. Private to "quemo": mo. Private to "quepa": ap.

"quemo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "quepa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quemo ← qeumo · qquemo · quemmo · queom · qumeo · uqemo
  • quepa ← qeupa · qquepa · queap · queppa · qupea · uqepa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "quemo" and "quepa" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quemo" is a noun and "quepa" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quemo" or "quepa"?
"quemo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,583 in our Spanish list, against #27,367 for "quepa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "quemo" and "quepa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "quemo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "quepa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,483 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "quemo" and "quepa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "quemo vs Quim". 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 #85,483 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