Which to use
“defendían” and “dependía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,461
- “defendían” frequency rank
- #18,784
- “dependía” frequency rank
- 43245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defendían | dependía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de depender. |
Where the eye mixes defendían and dependía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. defendían runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVVC) against dependía's 8 (CVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: defendían vs dependía
A purely visual mix-up. defendían ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and dependía ([d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) 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 43245, 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]. dependía is at rank #18,784, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪ia].
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 43245, this pair ranks #143,734 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of defendían vs dependía
Shared letters: adení. Private to "defendían": f. Private to "dependía": p.
"defendían" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "dependía" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "defendían" and "dependía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "defendían" or "dependía"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "defendían" and "dependía" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "defendían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dependía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,734 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defendían" and "dependía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defendían vs dependan". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #143,734 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.