esperar
The verdict
“esperar” is in the everyday core of Portuguese, ranked #891 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a verb.
- #891
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - ter esperança; aguardar com desejo e uma certa confiança de que algo vá se realizar
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 | esperar |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #891 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “esperar” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for esperar is 7 letters long, classified as a verb. Corpus data places it at rank #891 in overall Portuguese word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for esperar, with forms such as "epserar", "eseprar", and "espearr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "espiar", "esperto", "esperma", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Portuguese form is esperar, spelled E-S-P-E-R-A-R.
Definition
- 1ter esperança; aguardar com desejo e uma certa confiança de que algo vá se realizar
- 2acreditar, desejar, confiar
- 3ficar inativo ou em estado de repouso até que algo aconteça
- 4estar disponível ou pronto (se diz de coisas)
- 5ser negligenciado por um certo tempo
- 6adiar um assunto, uma decisão
- 7aguardar algo com grande antecipação
- 8gestar
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: epserar,eseprar,espearr,esperarr,esperrar,espperar,esprear,essperar,seperar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of esperar - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "esperar"?
What does "esperar" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "esperar"?
What language does "esperar" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “esperar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is E-S-P-E-R-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “espiar” - see the side-by-side comparison. esperar vs espiar
- 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.