insistevsinsistíTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,735
“insiste” frequency rank
#46,005
“insistí” frequency rank
53740
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature insiste insistí
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de insistir. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de insistir.

Where the eye mixes insiste and insistí

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. insiste and insistí follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
insiste
7 ch
insistí

Why the eye confuses insiste with insistí

A purely visual mix-up. insiste ([ĩnˈsist̪e]) and insistí ([ĩnsisˈt̪i]) 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 a single letter - e in “insiste” becomes í in “insistí”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

insiste is recorded at frequency rank #7,735, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩnˈsist̪e]. insistí is at rank #46,005, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩnsisˈt̪i].

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 53740, this pair ranks #86,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of insiste vs insistí

Shared letters: inst. Private to "insiste": e. Private to "insistí": í.

"insiste" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "insistí" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • insiste ← inciste · inisste · innsiste · insiset · insisste · insistte · insitse · inssiste

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "insiste" for "insistí" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩnˈsist̪e] versus [ĩnsisˈt̪i]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "insiste" or "insistí"?
"insiste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,735 in our Spanish list, against #46,005 for "insistí". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "insiste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "insistí" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #86,440 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "insiste" and "insistí" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insista vs insistí". 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 #86,440 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