dependenvsdependíaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,895
“dependen” frequency rank
#18,784
“dependía” frequency rank
25679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dependen dependía
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de depender. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de depender.

Where the eye mixes dependen and dependía

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
dependen
8 ch
dependía

Look-alike desk: dependen vs dependía

A purely visual mix-up. dependen ([d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪ẽn]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dependen is recorded at frequency rank #6,895, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪ẽn]. 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 25679, this pair ranks #235,318 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dependen vs dependía

Shared letters: denp. Private to "dependen": -. Private to "dependía": .

"dependen" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "dependía" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dependenddependen · deepnden · depednen · dependden · dependenn · dependne · depenedn · depennden

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dependen" and "dependía" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪eˈpẽn̪d̪ẽn] versus [d̪epẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dependen" or "dependía"?
"dependen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,895 in our Spanish list, against #18,784 for "dependía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "dependen" and "dependía" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dependen" 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 #235,318 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dependen" and "dependía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dependan vs dependía". 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 #235,318 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