dividirvsdividirseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#7,983
“dividir” frequency rank
#28,341
“dividirse” frequency rank
36324
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dividir dividirse
Definition Acción de separar, cortar en pedazos, para poder distribuir una cosa. Separarse de la compañía, amistad y confianza.

Where the eye mixes dividir and dividirse

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

7 ch
dividir
9 ch
dividirse

Why the eye confuses dividir with dividirse

A purely visual mix-up. dividir ([d̪iβ̞iˈð̞iɾ]) and dividirse ([d̪iβ̞iˈð̞iɾse]) 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 extra letter(s) - “dividir” sits inside “dividirse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dividir is recorded at frequency rank #7,983, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪iβ̞iˈð̞iɾ]. dividirse is at rank #28,341, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪iβ̞iˈð̞iɾse].

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 36324, this pair ranks #181,238 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dividir vs dividirse

Shared letters: dirv. Private to "dividir": -. Private to "dividirse": es.

"dividir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "dividirse" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dividir ← ddividir · dibidir · diivdir · divdiir · dividdir · dividirr · dividri · diviidr
  • dividirse ← ddividirse · dibidirse · diivdirse · divdiirse · dividdirse · dividirce · dividires · dividirrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "dividir" and "dividirse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([d̪iβ̞iˈð̞iɾ] versus [d̪iβ̞iˈð̞iɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dividir" or "dividirse"?
"dividir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,983 in our Spanish list, against #28,341 for "dividirse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dividir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dividirse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #181,238 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dividir" and "dividirse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dividir vs divisar". 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 #181,238 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