dejóvsdioWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#985
“dejó” frequency rank
#481
“dio” frequency rank
1466
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dejó dio
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de dejar. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de dar o de darse.

Where the eye mixes dejó and dio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
dejó
3 ch
dio

Visual trap between dejó and dio

A purely visual mix-up. dejó ([d̪eˈxo]) and dio ([ˈd̪jo]) 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 1466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dejó is recorded at frequency rank #985, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈxo]. dio is at rank #481, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈd̪jo].

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 1466, this pair ranks #322,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dejó vs dio

Shared letters: d. Private to "dejó": ejó. Private to "dio": io.

"dejó" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "dio" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "dejó" for "dio" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈxo] versus [ˈd̪jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dejó" vs "dio" - which ranks higher?
"dio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #481 in our Spanish list, against #985 for "dejó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dejó" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,013 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dejó" and "dio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dejó vs Deva". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #322,013 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