discusiónvsdiscutíanWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: discusión is a noun, discutían is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“discusión” is a noun and “discutían” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,979
“discusión” frequency rank
#37,039
“discutían” frequency rank
39018
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature discusión discutían
Definition Acción o efecto de discutir Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de discutir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set discusión and discutían apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
discusión
9 ch
discutían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: discusión is [d̪iskuˈsjõn] while discutían is [d̪iskuˈt̪iãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39018, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

discusión is recorded at frequency rank #1,979, classified as anoun, pronounced [d̪iskuˈsjõn]. discutían is at rank #37,039, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪iskuˈt̪iãn].

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 39018, this pair ranks #166,822 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of discusión vs discutían

Shared letters: cdinsu. Private to "discusión": ó. Private to "discutían": atí.

"discusión" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "discutían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

discusión#1,979
discutían#37,039

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "discusión" and "discutían" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "discusión" is a noun and "discutían" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "discusión" or "discutían"?
"discusión" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,979 in our Spanish list, against #37,039 for "discutían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering discusión vs discutían

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “discusión”; for a verb, it's “discutían”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “discusión” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list