Which to use
“despedí” is a verb and “despido” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,159
- “despedí” frequency rank
- #7,294
- “despido” frequency rank
- 46453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despedí | despido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de despedir. | Acción y efecto de despedir o despedirse; saludo que se intercambia entre dos o más personas cuando se separan |
Where the eye mixes despedí and despido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. despedí and despido follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses despedí with despido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: despedí is [d̪espeˈð̞i] while despido is [d̪esˈpið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despedí is recorded at frequency rank #39,159, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈð̞i]. despido is at rank #7,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈpið̞o].
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 46453, this pair ranks #125,628 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of despedí vs despido
Shared letters: deps. Private to "despedí": í. Private to "despido": io.
"despedí" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "despido" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- despido ← ddespido · depsido · desipdo · despdio · despiddo · despiod · desppido · desspido
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "despedí" and "despido" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "despedí" or "despido" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "despedí" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,628 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despedí" and "despido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despedí vs despeja". 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 #125,628 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.