llovervsllovíaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,635
“llover” frequency rank
#31,422
“llovía” frequency rank
44057
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature llover llovía
Definition Caer agua del cielo. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llover.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set llover and llovía apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
llover
6 ch
llovía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. llover ([ʝoˈβ̞eɾ]) and llovía ([ʝoˈβ̞ia]) 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 44057, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

llover is recorded at frequency rank #12,635, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝoˈβ̞eɾ]. llovía is at rank #31,422, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝoˈβ̞ia].

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 44057, this pair ranks #139,157 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of llover vs llovía

Shared letters: lov. Private to "llover": er. Private to "llovía": .

"llover" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "llovía" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lloverllober · lloevr · lloverr · llovre · llovver · llvoer · lolver

Frequency comparison

llover#12,635
llovía#31,422

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "llover" and "llovía" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʝoˈβ̞eɾ] versus [ʝoˈβ̞ia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "llover" or "llovía"?
"llover" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,635 in our Spanish list, against #31,422 for "llovía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering llover vs llovía

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 “llover” 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