imitanvsimpidanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,166
“imitan” frequency rank
#29,689
“impidan” frequency rank
62855
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imitan impidan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de imitar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de impedir.

Where the eye mixes imitan and impidan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. imitan runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against impidan's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
imitan
7 ch
impidan

Look-alike desk: imitan vs impidan

A purely visual mix-up. imitan ([iˈmit̪ãn]) and impidan ([ĩmˈpið̞ãn]) 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 62855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imitan is recorded at frequency rank #33,166, classified as averb, pronounced [iˈmit̪ãn]. impidan is at rank #29,689, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmˈpið̞ãn].

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 62855, this pair ranks #50,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of imitan vs impidan

Shared letters: aimn. Private to "imitan": t. Private to "impidan": dp.

"imitan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "impidan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • imitan ← iimtan · imiatn · imitann · imitna · imittan · immitan · imtian · miitan
  • impidan ← imipdan · immpidan · impdian · impiadn · impidann · impiddan · impidna · imppidan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "imitan" for "impidan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([iˈmit̪ãn] versus [ĩmˈpið̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "imitan" or "impidan"?
"impidan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,689 in our Spanish list, against #33,166 for "imitan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "imitan" and "impidan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "imitan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "impidan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,647 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imitan" and "impidan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imitado vs imitan". 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 #50,647 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