ejercíanvsejercióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,970
“ejercían” frequency rank
#14,826
“ejerció” frequency rank
57796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ejercían ejerció
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ejercer o de ejercerse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de ejercer o de ejercerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ejercían and ejerció apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
ejercían
7 ch
ejerció

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ejercían ([exeɾˈsiãn]) and ejerció ([exeɾˈsjo]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ejercían is recorded at frequency rank #42,970, classified as averb, pronounced [exeɾˈsiãn]. ejerció is at rank #14,826, tagged as averb, pronounced [exeɾˈsjo].

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 57796, this pair ranks #69,036 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ejercían vs ejerció

Shared letters: cejr. Private to "ejercían": aní. Private to "ejerció": .

"ejercían" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVVC  ·  "ejerció" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV

Frequency comparison

ejercían#42,970
ejerció#14,826

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ejercían" and "ejerció" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([exeɾˈsiãn] versus [exeɾˈsjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ejercían" or "ejerció"?
"ejerció" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,826 in our Spanish list, against #42,970 for "ejercían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ejercían vs ejerció

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 “ejercían” 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