Which to use
“desvían” is a verb and “desvíos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,521
- “desvían” frequency rank
- #33,077
- “desvíos” frequency rank
- 76598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desvían | desvíos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de desviar o de desviarse. | Forma del plural de desvío. |
Where the eye mixes desvían and desvíos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. desvían and desvíos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses desvían with desvíos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desvían is [d̪esˈβ̞iãn] while desvíos is [d̪esˈβ̞ios]. 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 76598, 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]. desvíos is at rank #33,077, tagged as anoun, pronounced [d̪esˈβ̞ios].
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 76598, this pair ranks #17,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of desvían vs desvíos
Shared letters: desví. Private to "desvían": an. Private to "desvíos": o.
"desvían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "desvíos" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "desvían" for "desvíos" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "desvían" or "desvíos" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "desvíos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desvían" and "desvíos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desván vs desvían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #17,441 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.