escondenvsescondíanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,599
“esconden” frequency rank
#45,306
“escondían” frequency rank
57905
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esconden escondían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de esconder. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de esconder.

Where the eye mixes esconden and escondían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. esconden runs 8 letters (VCCVCCVC) against escondían's 9 (VCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
esconden
9 ch
escondían

Why the eye confuses esconden with escondían

A purely visual mix-up. esconden ([esˈkõn̪d̪ẽn]) and escondían ([eskõn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 57905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

esconden is recorded at frequency rank #12,599, classified as averb, pronounced [esˈkõn̪d̪ẽn]. escondían is at rank #45,306, tagged as averb, pronounced [eskõn̪ˈd̪iãn].

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 57905, this pair ranks #68,579 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of esconden vs escondían

Shared letters: cdenos. Private to "esconden": -. Private to "escondían": aí.

"esconden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "escondían" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • esconden ← ecsonden · escconden · escnoden · escodnen · escondden · escondenn · escondne · esconedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "esconden" and "escondían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([esˈkõn̪d̪ẽn] versus [eskõn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "esconden" or "escondían"?
"esconden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,599 in our Spanish list, against #45,306 for "escondían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "esconden" and "escondían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "esconden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escondían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,579 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "esconden" and "escondían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esconda vs escondían". 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 #68,579 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