despidanvsdesvíanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#38,640
“despidan” frequency rank
#43,521
“desvían” frequency rank
82161
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature despidan desvían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de despedir o de despedirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desviar o de desviarse.

Where the eye mixes despidan and desvían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. despidan runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against desvían's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
despidan
7 ch
desvían

Look-alike desk: despidan vs desvían

A purely visual mix-up. despidan ([d̪esˈpið̞ãn]) and desvían ([d̪esˈβ̞iãn]) 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 82161, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

despidan is recorded at frequency rank #38,640, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈpið̞ãn]. desvían is at rank #43,521, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈβ̞iãn].

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 82161, this pair ranks #9,541 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of despidan vs desvían

Shared letters: adens. Private to "despidan": ip. Private to "desvían": ví.

"despidan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "desvían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • despidan ← ddespidan · depsidan · desipdan · despdian · despiadn · despidann · despiddan · despidna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "despidan" for "desvían" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈpið̞ãn] versus [d̪esˈβ̞iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "despidan" or "desvían"?
"despidan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,640 in our Spanish list, against #43,521 for "desvían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "despidan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desvían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,541 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "despidan" and "desvían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desván vs desvían". 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 #9,541 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