distinguían

[d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiãn]

/[d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiãn]/ verb

The verdict

“distinguían” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #68,507 among 4,885 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,507
frequency rank, Spanish
4,885
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de distinguir o de distinguirse.

Corpus desk

Index ES-distinguian · distinguían · Spanish

distinguían · rank #68,507 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,507
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,885
  • PHOTO-FINISH disolvieron

Nearest frequency peer: disolvieron (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “distinguían”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “distinguían” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for distinguían
PropertyValue
Headworddistinguían
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechVerb
IPA[d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiãn]
Letters11
Frequency rank#68,507
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “distinguían” en español

Esta escala corre desde el núcleo del español cotidiano (izquierda) hasta el rastro de formas rara vez usadas (derecha).distinguíancae en esta cola de rareza:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

El eje es logarítmico: cada tick marca unas diez veces menos frecuencia. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “disolvieron” (#68,506), “distrofia” (#68,508), “disk” (#68,505). Entre 4,885 lemas con “D”, “distinguían” va en #68,507. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

distinguían is uncommon Spanish at frequency #68,507 among 4,885 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiãn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de distinguir o de distinguirse.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for distinguían, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Spanish form is distinguían, spelled D-I-S-T-I-N-G-U-Í-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de distinguir o de distinguirse.

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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "distinguían"?
"distinguían" is spelled D-I-S-T-I-N-G-U-Í-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiãn].
What does "distinguían" mean?
As a verb, "distinguían" means: Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de distinguir o de distinguirse.
How do you pronounce "distinguían"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "distinguían" is [d̪ist̪ĩŋˈgiãn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "distinguían" come from?
"distinguían" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "distinguían", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list