cambiévscambienTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,536
“cambié” frequency rank
#10,800
“cambien” frequency rank
23336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cambié cambien
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de cambiar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de cambiar.

Where the eye mixes cambié and cambien

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cambié runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against cambien's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
cambié
7 ch
cambien

Visual trap between cambié and cambien

A purely visual mix-up. cambié ([kãmˈbje]) and cambien ([ˈkãmbjẽn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cambié is recorded at frequency rank #12,536, classified as averb, pronounced [kãmˈbje]. cambien is at rank #10,800, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈkãmbjẽn].

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 23336, this pair ranks #246,255 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cambié vs cambien

Shared letters: abcim. Private to "cambié": é. Private to "cambien": en.

"cambié" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "cambien" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cambienacmbien · cabmien · cambbien · cambein · cambienn · cambine · camiben · cammbien

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cambié" for "cambien" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kãmˈbje] versus [ˈkãmbjẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cambié" or "cambien"?
"cambien" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,800 in our Spanish list, against #12,536 for "cambié". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cambié" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cambien" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #246,255 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cambié" and "cambien" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cambié vs camote". 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 #246,255 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