Which to use
“defendían” and “defendió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,461
- “defendían” frequency rank
- #8,507
- “defendió” frequency rank
- 32968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defendían | defendió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. |
Where the eye mixes defendían and defendió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. defendían runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against defendió's 8 (CVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between defendían and defendió
A purely visual mix-up. defendían ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and defendió ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪jo]) 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 32968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defendían is recorded at frequency rank #24,461, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]. defendió is at rank #8,507, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪jo].
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 32968, this pair ranks #199,256 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of defendían vs defendió
Shared letters: defn. Private to "defendían": aí. Private to "defendió": ió.
"defendían" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "defendió" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "defendían" and "defendió" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "defendían" or "defendió" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "defendían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "defendió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #199,256 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defendían" and "defendió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defendían vs dependan". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #199,256 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.