Which to use
“entendían” and “entiendan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,455
- “entendían” frequency rank
- #11,040
- “entiendan” frequency rank
- 41495
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | entendían | entiendan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de entender o de entenderse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de entender o de entenderse. |
Where the eye mixes entendían and entiendan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. entendían (VCCVCCVVC) and entiendan (VCCVVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: entendían vs entiendan
A purely visual mix-up. entendían ([ẽn̪t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and entiendan ([ẽn̪ˈt̪jẽn̪d̪ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
entendían is recorded at frequency rank #30,455, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽn̪t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]. entiendan is at rank #11,040, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽn̪ˈt̪jẽn̪d̪ãn].
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 41495, this pair ranks #153,324 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of entendían vs entiendan
Shared letters: adent. Private to "entendían": í. Private to "entiendan": i.
"entendían" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "entiendan" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- entiendan ← enitendan · enntiendan · enteindan · entiednan · entienadn · entiendann · entienddan · entiendna
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "entendían" for "entiendan" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "entendían" or "entiendan" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "entendían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "entiendan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #153,324 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "entendían" and "entiendan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entendían vs entendieran". 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 #153,324 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.