Which to use
“exigía” and “exigían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,098
- “exigía” frequency rank
- #24,503
- “exigían” frequency rank
- 40601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exigía | exigían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de exigir. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de exigir. |
Where the eye mixes exigía and exigían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. exigía runs 6 letters (VCVCVV) against exigían's 7 (VCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses exigía with exigían
A purely visual mix-up. exigía ([eksiˈxia]) and exigían ([eksiˈxiãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “exigía” sits inside “exigían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exigía is recorded at frequency rank #16,098, classified as averb, pronounced [eksiˈxia]. exigían is at rank #24,503, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksiˈxiãn].
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 40601, this pair ranks #158,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of exigía vs exigían
Shared letters: aegixí. Private to "exigía": -. Private to "exigían": n.
"exigía" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV · "exigían" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "exigía" for "exigían" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "exigía" or "exigían" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "exigía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exigían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exigía" and "exigían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exigían vs exigida". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #158,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.