Which to use
“oían” and “opinan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,975
- “oían” frequency rank
- #9,334
- “opinan” frequency rank
- 57309
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | oían | opinan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de oír. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de opinar. |
Where the eye mixes oían and opinan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. oían runs 4 letters (VVVC) against opinan's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between oían and opinan
A purely visual mix-up. oían ([oˈiãn]) and opinan ([oˈpinãn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
oían is recorded at frequency rank #47,975, classified as averb, pronounced [oˈiãn]. opinan is at rank #9,334, tagged as averb, pronounced [oˈpinãn].
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 57309, this pair ranks #71,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of oían vs opinan
Shared letters: ano. Private to "oían": í. Private to "opinan": ip.
"oían" · 4 letters · shape VVVC · "opinan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- opinan ← oipnan · opiann · opinann · opinnan · opnian · oppinan · poinan
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "oían" and "opinan" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "oían" or "opinan" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "oían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "opinan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "oían" and "opinan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oían vs oirá". 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 #71,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.