Which to use
“entendían” and “extendían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,455
- “entendían” frequency rank
- #48,399
- “extendían” frequency rank
- 78854
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | entendían | extendían |
|---|---|---|
| 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 pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de extender o de extenderse. |
Where the eye mixes entendían and extendían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. entendían and extendían follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: entendían vs extendían
A purely visual mix-up. entendían ([ẽn̪t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and extendían ([ekst̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 a single letter - n in “entendían” becomes x in “extendían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78854, 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]. extendían is at rank #48,399, tagged as averb, pronounced [ekst̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn].
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 78854, this pair ranks #13,847 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of entendían vs extendían
Shared letters: adentí. Private to "entendían": -. Private to "extendían": x.
"entendían" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC · "extendían" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "entendían" for "extendían" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "entendían" or "extendían" show up more?
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 "entendían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "extendían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #13,847 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "entendían" and "extendían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extendían vs extension". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #13,847 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.