impedíavsimpedíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,389
“impedía” frequency rank
#41,410
“impedían” frequency rank
63799
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature impedía impedían
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de impedir. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de impedir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set impedía and impedían apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
impedía
8 ch
impedían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. impedía ([ĩmpeˈð̞ia]) and impedían ([ĩmpeˈð̞iãn]) 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) - “impedía” sits inside “impedían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

impedía is recorded at frequency rank #22,389, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmpeˈð̞ia]. impedían is at rank #41,410, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmpeˈð̞iãn].

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 63799, this pair ranks #47,576 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of impedía vs impedían

Shared letters: adeimpí. Private to "impedía": -. Private to "impedían": n.

"impedía" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "impedían" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

impedía#22,389
impedían#41,410

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "impedía" and "impedían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmpeˈð̞ia] versus [ĩmpeˈð̞iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "impedía" or "impedían"?
"impedía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,389 in our Spanish list, against #41,410 for "impedían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering impedía vs impedían

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “impedía” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list