complicanvscumplíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,713
“complican” frequency rank
#29,576
“cumplían” frequency rank
61289
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature complican cumplían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de complicar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cumplir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set complican and cumplían apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
complican
8 ch
cumplían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. complican ([kõmˈplikãn]) and cumplían ([kũmˈpliãn]) 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 61289, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

complican is recorded at frequency rank #31,713, classified as averb, pronounced [kõmˈplikãn]. cumplían is at rank #29,576, tagged as averb, pronounced [kũmˈpliãn].

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 61289, this pair ranks #55,985 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of complican vs cumplían

Shared letters: aclmnp. Private to "complican": io. Private to "cumplían": .

"complican" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "cumplían" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • complicanccomplican · cmoplican · comlpican · commplican · compilcan · complcian · compliacn · complicann

Frequency comparison

complican#31,713
cumplían#29,576

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "complican" and "cumplían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõmˈplikãn] versus [kũmˈpliãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "complican" or "cumplían"?
"cumplían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,576 in our Spanish list, against #31,713 for "complican". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering complican vs cumplían

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 “complican” 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