respuestavsrespuestasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#595
“respuesta” frequency rank
#1,790
“respuestas” frequency rank
2385
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature respuesta respuestas
Definition Acción o efecto de responder (en cualquiera de sus acepciones). Forma del plural de respuesta.

Where the eye mixes respuesta and respuestas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. respuesta runs 9 letters (CVCCVVCCV) against respuestas's 10 (CVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
respuesta
10 ch
respuestas

Why the eye confuses respuesta with respuestas

A purely visual mix-up. respuesta ([resˈpwest̪a]) and respuestas ([resˈpwest̪as]) 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) - “respuesta” sits inside “respuestas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2385, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

respuesta is recorded at frequency rank #595, classified as anoun, pronounced [resˈpwest̪a]. respuestas is at rank #1,790, tagged as anoun, pronounced [resˈpwest̪as].

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 2385, this pair ranks #320,424 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of respuesta vs respuestas

Shared letters: aeprstu. Private to "respuesta": -. Private to "respuestas": -.

"respuesta" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV  ·  "respuestas" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • respuestaerspuesta · repsuesta · respeusta · resppuesta · respuesat · respuessta · respuestta · respuetsa
  • respuestaserspuestas · repsuestas · respeustas · resppuestas · respuesats · respuesstas · respuestass · respuestsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "respuesta" and "respuestas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([resˈpwest̪a] versus [resˈpwest̪as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "respuesta" vs "respuestas" - which ranks higher?
"respuesta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #595 in our Spanish list, against #1,790 for "respuestas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "respuesta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "respuestas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #320,424 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "respuesta" and "respuestas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "respetas vs respuestas". 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 #320,424 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