Which to use
“defendían” and “dependían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,461
- “defendían” frequency rank
- #37,020
- “dependían” frequency rank
- 61481
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defendían | dependían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) 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 depender. |
Where the eye mixes defendían and dependían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. defendían and dependían follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between defendían and dependían
A purely visual mix-up. defendían ([d̪efẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and dependían ([d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 a single letter - f in “defendían” becomes p in “dependían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61481, 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]. dependían is at rank #37,020, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪iãn].
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 61481, this pair ranks #55,328 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of defendían vs dependían
Shared letters: adení. Private to "defendían": f. Private to "dependían": p.
"defendían" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "dependían" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "defendían" for "dependían" ever safe?
Which is more common, "defendían" or "dependían"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "defendían" and "dependían" 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 "dependían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,328 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defendían" and "dependían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dependerán vs dependían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #55,328 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.