Which to use
“desaparecía” is a verb and “desaparecidas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,688
- “desaparecía” frequency rank
- #13,016
- “desaparecidas” frequency rank
- 52704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desaparecía | desaparecidas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de desaparecer o de desaparecerse. | Forma del femenino plural de desaparecido, participio de desaparecer o de desaparecerse. |
Where the eye mixes desaparecía and desaparecidas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. desaparecía runs 11 letters (CVCVCVCVCVV) against desaparecidas's 13 (CVCVCVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses desaparecía with desaparecidas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desaparecía is [d̪esapaɾeˈsia] while desaparecidas is [d̪esapaɾeˈsið̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desaparecía is recorded at frequency rank #39,688, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esapaɾeˈsia]. desaparecidas is at rank #13,016, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪esapaɾeˈsið̞as].
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 52704, this pair ranks #91,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of desaparecía vs desaparecidas
Shared letters: acdeprs. Private to "desaparecía": í. Private to "desaparecidas": i.
"desaparecía" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVV · "desaparecidas" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- desaparecidas ← ddesaparecidas · deasparecidas · desaaprecidas · desapaercidas · desaparceidas · desapareccidas · desaparecdias · desapareciads
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "desaparecía" for "desaparecidas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "desaparecía" or "desaparecidas"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "desaparecía" and "desaparecidas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "desaparecía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desaparecidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #91,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desaparecía" and "desaparecidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desaparecería vs desaparecía". 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 #91,432 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.