padecevspadecíaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,211
“padece” frequency rank
#26,951
“padecía” frequency rank
39162
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature padece padecía
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de padecer. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de padecer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set padece and padecía apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
padece
7 ch
padecía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. padece ([paˈð̞ese]) and padecía ([pað̞eˈsia]) 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 39162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

padece is recorded at frequency rank #12,211, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈð̞ese]. padecía is at rank #26,951, tagged as averb, pronounced [pað̞eˈsia].

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 39162, this pair ranks #166,066 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of padece vs padecía

Shared letters: acdep. Private to "padece": -. Private to "padecía": í.

"padece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "padecía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • padeceapdece · padcee · paddece · padecce · padeec · padese · paedce · pdaece

Frequency comparison

padece#12,211
padecía#26,951

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "padece" and "padecía" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈð̞ese] versus [pað̞eˈsia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "padece" or "padecía"?
"padece" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,211 in our Spanish list, against #26,951 for "padecía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering padece vs padecía

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 “padece” 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