espera
/iʃ.ˈpɛ.ɾɐ/
The verdict
“espera” is in the everyday core of Portuguese, ranked #825 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a noun.
- #825
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - ato de esperar
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | espera |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /iʃ.ˈpɛ.ɾɐ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #825 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “espera” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for espera is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /iʃ.ˈpɛ.ɾɐ/. Corpus data places it at rank #825 in overall Portuguese word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for espera, with forms such as "epsera", "esepra", and "espear". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "espia", "espeto", "espiga", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Portuguese form is espera, spelled E-S-P-E-R-A.
Definition
- 1ato de esperar
- 2esperança
- 3adiamento
- 4demora
- 5lugar em que se espera
- 6emboscada
- 7peça de ferro cravada numa das extremidades do banco de carpinteiro ou marceneiro para segurar as tábuas que se aplainam e outras peças de madeira em que se trabalha
- 8peça de artilharia
- 9o mesmo que esfera
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epsera,esepra,espear,esperra,esppera,esprea,esspera,sepera
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of espera - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "espera"?
What does "espera" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "espera"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “espera”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is E-S-P-E-R-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /iʃ.ˈpɛ.ɾɐ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “espia” - see the side-by-side comparison. espera vs espia
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.