consistevsconsistióTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,244
“consiste” frequency rank
#17,926
“consistió” frequency rank
20170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature consiste consistió
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de consistir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de consistir.

Where the eye mixes consiste and consistió

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. consiste runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against consistió's 9 (CVCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
consiste
9 ch
consistió

Visual trap between consiste and consistió

A purely visual mix-up. consiste ([kõnˈsist̪e]) and consistió ([kõnsisˈt̪jo]) 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 20170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

consiste is recorded at frequency rank #2,244, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnˈsist̪e]. consistió is at rank #17,926, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõnsisˈt̪jo].

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 20170, this pair ranks #260,497 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of consiste vs consistió

Shared letters: cinost. Private to "consiste": e. Private to "consistió": ó.

"consiste" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "consistió" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • consiste ← cconsiste · cnosiste · conciste · conisste · connsiste · consiset · consisste · consistte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "consiste" for "consistió" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõnˈsist̪e] versus [kõnsisˈt̪jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "consiste" vs "consistió" - which ranks higher?
"consiste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,244 in our Spanish list, against #17,926 for "consistió". 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 "consiste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "consistió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #260,497 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "consiste" and "consistió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consistían vs consistió". 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 #260,497 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