Which to use
“detenía” is a verb and “detenidas” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,955
- “detenía” frequency rank
- #19,088
- “detenidas” frequency rank
- 62043
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | detenía | detenidas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de detener o de detenerse. | Forma del femenino plural de detenido, participio de detener o de detenerse. |
Where the eye mixes detenía and detenidas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. detenía runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against detenidas's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between detenía and detenidas
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: detenía is [d̪et̪eˈnia] while detenidas is [d̪et̪eˈnið̞as]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
detenía is recorded at frequency rank #42,955, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪et̪eˈnia]. detenidas is at rank #19,088, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [d̪et̪eˈnið̞as].
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 62043, this pair ranks #53,364 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of detenía vs detenidas
Shared letters: adent. Private to "detenía": í. Private to "detenidas": is.
"detenía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "detenidas" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- detenidas ← ddetenidas · deetnidas · deteindas · detendias · deteniads · detenidass · deteniddas · detenidsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "detenía" for "detenidas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "detenía" or "detenidas"?
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 "detenía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "detenidas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,364 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "detenía" and "detenidas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detengas vs detenía". 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 #53,364 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.