Which to use
“existe” and “existió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #534
- “existe” frequency rank
- #9,984
- “existió” frequency rank
- 10518
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | existe | existió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de existir. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de existir. |
Where the eye mixes existe and existió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses existe with existió
A purely visual mix-up. existe ([ekˈsist̪e]) and existió ([eksisˈt̪jo]) 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 10518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
existe is recorded at frequency rank #534, classified as averb, pronounced [ekˈsist̪e]. existió is at rank #9,984, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksisˈt̪jo].
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 10518, this pair ranks #298,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of existe vs existió
Shared letters: eistx. Private to "existe": -. Private to "existió": ó.
"existe" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "existió" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- existe ← eixste · exiset · exisste · existte · exitse · exsite · exxiste · xeiste
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "existe" and "existió" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "existe" or "existió"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "existe" and "existió" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "existe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "existió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "existe" and "existió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "existe vs exit". 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 #298,305 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.