existieranvsexistiríanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#26,440
“existieran” frequency rank
#47,129
“existirían” frequency rank
73569
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature existieran existirían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo de existir. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del condicional de existir.

Where the eye mixes existieran and existirían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

10 ch
existieran
10 ch
existirían

Why the eye confuses existieran with existirían

A purely visual mix-up. existieran ([eksisˈt̪jeɾãn]) and existirían ([eksist̪iˈɾiãn]) 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 73569, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

existieran is recorded at frequency rank #26,440, classified as averb, pronounced [eksisˈt̪jeɾãn]. existirían is at rank #47,129, tagged as averb, pronounced [eksist̪iˈɾiãn].

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 73569, this pair ranks #23,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of existieran vs existirían

Shared letters: aeinrstx. Private to "existieran": -. Private to "existirían": í.

"existieran" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVVCVC  ·  "existirían" · 10 letters · shape VCVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • existieraneixstieran · exisiteran · exisstieran · existeiran · existiearn · existierann · existierna · existierran

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "existieran" and "existirían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([eksisˈt̪jeɾãn] versus [eksist̪iˈɾiãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "existieran" or "existirían" show up more?
"existieran" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,440 in our Spanish list, against #47,129 for "existirían". 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 "existieran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "existirían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #23,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "existieran" and "existirían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "existirán vs existirían". 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 #23,042 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