escribívsescribióWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,722
“escribí” frequency rank
#1,445
“escribió” frequency rank
7167
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escribí escribió
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de escribir o de escribirse.

Where the eye mixes escribí and escribió

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. escribí runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against escribió's 8 (VCCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
escribí
8 ch
escribió

Look-alike desk: escribí vs escribió

A purely visual mix-up. escribí ([eskɾiˈβ̞i]) and escribió ([eskɾiˈβ̞jo]) 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 7167, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escribí is recorded at frequency rank #5,722, classified as averb, pronounced [eskɾiˈβ̞i]. escribió is at rank #1,445, tagged as averb, pronounced [eskɾiˈβ̞jo].

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 7167, this pair ranks #308,752 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of escribí vs escribió

Shared letters: bceirs. Private to "escribí": í. Private to "escribió": ó.

"escribí" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV  ·  "escribió" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "escribí" for "escribió" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([eskɾiˈβ̞i] versus [eskɾiˈβ̞jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "escribí" or "escribió"?
"escribió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,445 in our Spanish list, against #5,722 for "escribí". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "escribí" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escribió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #308,752 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escribí" and "escribió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escribí vs escribís". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #308,752 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