Which to use
“despedir” and “despidió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,313
- “despedir” frequency rank
- #13,226
- “despidió” frequency rank
- 23539
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | despedir | despidió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Acompañar o decir adiós a alguien que se marcha. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de despedir o de despedirse. |
Where the eye mixes despedir and despidió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. despedir (CVCCVCVC) and despidió (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses despedir with despidió
A purely visual mix-up. despedir ([d̪espeˈð̞iɾ]) and despidió ([d̪espiˈð̞jo]) 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 23539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
despedir is recorded at frequency rank #10,313, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪espeˈð̞iɾ]. despidió is at rank #13,226, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪espiˈð̞jo].
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 23539, this pair ranks #245,331 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of despedir vs despidió
Shared letters: deips. Private to "despedir": r. Private to "despidió": ó.
"despedir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "despidió" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- despedir ← ddespedir · depsedir · desepdir · despdeir · despeddir · despedirr · despedri · despeidr
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "despedir" and "despidió" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "despedir" vs "despidió" - which ranks higher?
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 "despedir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "despidió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,331 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "despedir" and "despidió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "despedí vs despidió". 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 #245,331 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.