desvíanvsdesviandoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,521
“desvían” frequency rank
#37,031
“desviando” frequency rank
80552
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature desvían desviando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desviar o de desviarse. Gerundio de desviar.

Where the eye mixes desvían and desviando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. desvían runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against desviando's 9 (CVCCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
desvían
9 ch
desviando

Visual trap between desvían and desviando

A purely visual mix-up. desvían ([d̪esˈβ̞iãn]) and desviando ([d̪esˈβ̞jãn̪d̪o]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desvían is recorded at frequency rank #43,521, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈβ̞iãn]. desviando is at rank #37,031, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪esˈβ̞jãn̪d̪o].

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 80552, this pair ranks #11,492 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of desvían vs desviando

Shared letters: adensv. Private to "desvían": í. Private to "desviando": io.

"desvían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "desviando" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • desviando ← ddesviando · desbiando · desivando · dessviando · desvaindo · desviadno · desvianddo · desvianndo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "desvían" and "desviando" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪esˈβ̞iãn] versus [d̪esˈβ̞jãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "desvían" or "desviando"?
"desviando" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,031 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.

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 "desvían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "desviando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #11,492 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "desvían" and "desviando" 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 #11,492 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