atendervsatendióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,672
“atender” frequency rank
#17,878
“atendió” frequency rank
21550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature atender atendió
Definition Poner atención, tener los sentidos puestos para captar o comprender algo. :*Sinónimos: escuchar, abrir los ojos, aguzar los oídos, estar a la mira, estar pendiente de, prestar atención, tener puestos los cinco sentidos Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de atender.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set atender and atendió apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
atender
7 ch
atendió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. atender ([at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]) and atendió ([at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

atender is recorded at frequency rank #3,672, classified as averb, pronounced [at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. atendió is at rank #17,878, tagged as averb, pronounced [at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo].

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 21550, this pair ranks #254,423 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of atender vs atendió

Shared letters: adent. Private to "atender": r. Private to "atendió": .

"atender" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "atendió" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • atenderaetnder · atedner · atendder · atenderr · atendre · atenedr · atennder · atneder

Frequency comparison

atender#3,672
atendió#17,878

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "atender" and "atendió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] versus [at̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "atender" or "atendió"?
"atender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,672 in our Spanish list, against #17,878 for "atendió". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering atender vs atendió

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “atender” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list