competíavscompitióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,664
“competía” frequency rank
#42,349
“compitió” frequency rank
90013
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature competía compitió
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de competer. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de competir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

8 ch
competía
8 ch
compitió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. competía ([kõmpeˈt̪ia]) and compitió ([kõmpiˈt̪jo]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

competía is recorded at frequency rank #47,664, classified as averb, pronounced [kõmpeˈt̪ia]. compitió is at rank #42,349, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõmpiˈt̪jo].

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 90013, this pair ranks #2,762 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of competía vs compitió

Shared letters: cmopt. Private to "competía": aeí. Private to "compitió": .

"competía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "compitió" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Frequency comparison

competía#47,664
compitió#42,349

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "competía" and "compitió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõmpeˈt̪ia] versus [kõmpiˈt̪jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "competía" or "compitió"?
"compitió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,349 in our Spanish list, against #47,664 for "competía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering competía vs compitió

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 “competía” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list