respaldavsrespaldanTell them apart

Which to use

“respalda” and “respaldan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,963
“respalda” frequency rank
#26,987
“respaldan” frequency rank
45950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature respalda respaldan
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de respaldar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de respaldar.

Where the eye mixes respalda and respaldan

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

8 ch
respalda
9 ch
respaldan

Visual trap between respalda and respaldan

A purely visual mix-up. respalda ([resˈpal̪d̪a]) and respaldan ([resˈpal̪d̪ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “respalda” sits inside “respaldan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

respalda is recorded at frequency rank #18,963, classified as averb, pronounced [resˈpal̪d̪a]. respaldan is at rank #26,987, tagged as averb, pronounced [resˈpal̪d̪ãn].

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 45950, this pair ranks #128,521 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of respalda vs respaldan

Shared letters: adelprs. Private to "respalda": -. Private to "respaldan": n.

"respalda" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "respaldan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • respalda ← erspalda · repsalda · resaplda · respadla · respalad · respaldda · respallda · resplada
  • respaldan ← erspaldan · repsaldan · resapldan · respadlan · respaladn · respaldann · respalddan · respaldna

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "respalda" and "respaldan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([resˈpal̪d̪a] versus [resˈpal̪d̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "respalda" vs "respaldan" - which ranks higher?
"respalda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,963 in our Spanish list, against #26,987 for "respaldan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "respalda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "respaldan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #128,521 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "respalda" and "respaldan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "respaldan vs respaldos". 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 #128,521 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