padecíavsparecíaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,951
“padecía” frequency rank
#1,691
“parecía” frequency rank
28642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature padecía parecía
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de padecer. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de parecer o de parecerse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set padecía and parecía apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
padecía
7 ch
parecía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. padecía ([pað̞eˈsia]) and parecía ([paɾeˈsia]) 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 - d in “padecía” becomes r in “parecía”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

padecía is recorded at frequency rank #26,951, classified as averb, pronounced [pað̞eˈsia]. parecía is at rank #1,691, tagged as averb, pronounced [paɾeˈsia].

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 28642, this pair ranks #220,978 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of padecía vs parecía

Shared letters: acepí. Private to "padecía": d. Private to "parecía": r.

"padecía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "parecía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

padecía#26,951
parecía#1,691

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "padecía" and "parecía" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pað̞eˈsia] versus [paɾeˈsia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "padecía" or "parecía"?
"parecía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,691 in our Spanish list, against #26,951 for "padecía". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering padecía vs parecía

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 “padecía” 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