defiendevsdefiendoConfusable pair

Which to use

“defiende” and “defiendo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,151
“defiende” frequency rank
#18,504
“defiendo” frequency rank
22655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature defiende defiendo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de defender o de defenderse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de defender o de defenderse.

Where the eye mixes defiende and defiendo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. defiende and defiendo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
defiende
8 ch
defiendo

Why the eye confuses defiende with defiendo

A purely visual mix-up. defiende ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪e]) and defiendo ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪o]) 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 - e in “defiende” becomes o in “defiendo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

defiende is recorded at frequency rank #4,151, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪e]. defiendo is at rank #18,504, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪o].

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 22655, this pair ranks #249,336 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of defiende vs defiendo

Shared letters: defin. Private to "defiende": -. Private to "defiendo": o.

"defiende" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "defiendo" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • defiende ← ddefiende · defeinde · deffiende · defiedne · defiendde · defiened · defiennde · definede
  • defiendo ← ddefiendo · defeindo · deffiendo · defiedno · defienddo · defienndo · defienod · definedo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "defiende" for "defiendo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪e] versus [d̪eˈfjẽn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "defiende" vs "defiendo" - which ranks higher?
"defiende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,151 in our Spanish list, against #18,504 for "defiendo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "defiende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "defiendo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,336 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "defiende" and "defiendo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defiendo vs doliendo". 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 #249,336 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