cumplíanvsCumplidoConfusable pair

Quick tell: cumplían is a verb, Cumplido is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cumplían” is a verb and “Cumplido” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,576
“cumplían” frequency rank
#4,778
“Cumplido” frequency rank
34354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes cumplían and Cumplido

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cumplían (CVCCCVVC) and Cumplido (CVCCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
cumplían
8 ch
Cumplido

Visual trap between cumplían and Cumplido

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cumplían is [kũmˈpliãn] while Cumplido is [kũmˈplið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cumplían is recorded at frequency rank #29,576, classified as averb, pronounced [kũmˈpliãn]. Cumplido is at rank #4,778, tagged as aname, pronounced [kũmˈplið̞o].

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 34354, this pair ranks #191,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cumplían vs Cumplido

Shared letters: clmpu. Private to "cumplían": aní. Private to "Cumplido": dio.

"cumplían" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC  ·  "Cumplido" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Cumplidoccumplido · cmuplido · cumlpido · cummplido · cumpildo · cumpldio · cumpliddo · cumpliod

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "cumplían" for "Cumplido" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cumplían" is a verb and "Cumplido" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cumplían" or "Cumplido"?
"Cumplido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,778 in our Spanish list, against #29,576 for "cumplían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "cumplían" and "Cumplido" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cumplían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Cumplido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #191,914 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cumplían" and "Cumplido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cumplían vs cumpliré". 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 #191,914 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