construíanvsconstruidoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,221
“construían” frequency rank
#4,315
“construido” frequency rank
49536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature construían construido
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de construir. Participio de construir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set construían and construido apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
construían
10 ch
construido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. construían ([kõnsˈt̪ɾwiãn]) and construido ([kõnsˈt̪ɾwið̞o]) 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 49536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

construían is recorded at frequency rank #45,221, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnsˈt̪ɾwiãn]. construido is at rank #4,315, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõnsˈt̪ɾwið̞o].

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 49536, this pair ranks #108,262 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of construían vs construido

Shared letters: cnorstu. Private to "construían": . Private to "construido": di.

"construían" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVVC  ·  "construido" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • construidocconstruido · cnostruido · connstruido · consrtuido · consstruido · constriudo · constrruido · construdio

Frequency comparison

construían#45,221
construido#4,315

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "construían" and "construido" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kõnsˈt̪ɾwiãn] versus [kõnsˈt̪ɾwið̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "construían" or "construido"?
"construido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,315 in our Spanish list, against #45,221 for "construían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering construían vs construido

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 “construían” 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