disponíavsdisponíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,596
“disponía” frequency rank
#30,436
“disponían” frequency rank
46032
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature disponía disponían
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de disponer o de disponerse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de disponer o de disponerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set disponía and disponían apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
disponía
9 ch
disponían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. disponía ([d̪ispoˈnia]) and disponían ([d̪ispoˈniãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “disponía” sits inside “disponían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

disponía is recorded at frequency rank #15,596, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪ispoˈnia]. disponían is at rank #30,436, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪ispoˈniãn].

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 46032, this pair ranks #128,081 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of disponía vs disponían

Shared letters: adinopsí. Private to "disponía": -. Private to "disponían": -.

"disponía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "disponían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

disponía#15,596
disponían#30,436

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "disponía" and "disponían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪ispoˈnia] versus [d̪ispoˈniãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "disponía" or "disponían"?
"disponía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,596 in our Spanish list, against #30,436 for "disponían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering disponía vs disponían

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “disponía” 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