escondenvsescondióTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,599
“esconden” frequency rank
#24,857
“escondió” frequency rank
37456
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature esconden escondió
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de esconder. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de esconder.

Where the eye mixes esconden and escondió

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. esconden (VCCVCCVC) and escondió (VCCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
esconden
8 ch
escondió

Look-alike desk: esconden vs escondió

A purely visual mix-up. esconden ([esˈkõn̪d̪ẽn]) and escondió ([eskõn̪ˈd̪jo]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37456, 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]. escondió is at rank #24,857, tagged as averb, pronounced [eskõn̪ˈd̪jo].

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 37456, this pair ranks #175,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of esconden vs escondió

Shared letters: cdenos. Private to "esconden": -. Private to "escondió": ió.

"esconden" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "escondió" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "esconden" for "escondió" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([esˈkõn̪d̪ẽn] versus [eskõn̪ˈd̪jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "esconden" vs "escondió" - which ranks higher?
"esconden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,599 in our Spanish list, against #24,857 for "escondió". 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 "esconden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escondió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #175,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "esconden" and "escondió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escondían vs escondió". 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 #175,199 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