Which to use
“respaldan” is a verb and “respaldo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,987
- “respaldan” frequency rank
- #5,152
- “respaldo” frequency rank
- 32139
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | respaldan | respaldo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de respaldar. | La parte de un mueble que descansa la espalda |
Where the eye mixes respaldan and respaldo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. respaldan runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against respaldo's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between respaldan and respaldo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: respaldan is [resˈpal̪d̪ãn] while respaldo is [resˈpal̪d̪o]. 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 32139, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
respaldan is recorded at frequency rank #26,987, classified as averb, pronounced [resˈpal̪d̪ãn]. respaldo is at rank #5,152, tagged as anoun, pronounced [resˈpal̪d̪o].
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 32139, this pair ranks #203,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of respaldan vs respaldo
Shared letters: adelprs. Private to "respaldan": n. Private to "respaldo": o.
"respaldan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "respaldo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "respaldan" and "respaldo" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "respaldan" or "respaldo" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "respaldan" and "respaldo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "respaldan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "respaldo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #203,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "respaldan" and "respaldo" 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 #203,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.