Which to use
“defendía” and “defendían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,550
- “defendía” frequency rank
- #24,461
- “defendían” frequency rank
- 41011
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defendía | defendían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. |
Where the eye mixes defendía and defendían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. defendía runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against defendían's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: defendía vs defendían
A purely visual mix-up. defendía ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) and defendían ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “defendía” sits inside “defendían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defendía is recorded at frequency rank #16,550, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪ia]. defendían is at rank #24,461, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪iãn].
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 41011, this pair ranks #155,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of defendía vs defendían
Shared letters: adefní. Private to "defendía": -. Private to "defendían": -.
"defendía" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "defendían" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defendía" and "defendían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "defendía" vs "defendían" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "defendía" and "defendían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "defendía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "defendían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defendía" and "defendían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defendían vs dependan". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #155,988 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.