parecevsparecíaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#166
“parece” frequency rank
#1,691
“parecía” frequency rank
1857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parece parecía
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de parecer o de parecerse. 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 parece and parecía apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
parece
7 ch
parecía

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parece ([paˈɾese]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parece is recorded at frequency rank #166, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈɾese]. 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 1857, this pair ranks #321,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parece vs parecía

Shared letters: acepr. Private to "parece": -. Private to "parecía": í.

"parece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "parecía" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pareceaprece · paerce · parcee · parecce · pareec · parese · parrece · pparece

Frequency comparison

parece#166
parecía#1,691

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parece" and "parecía" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paˈɾese] versus [paɾeˈsia]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parece" or "parecía"?
"parece" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #166 in our Spanish list, against #1,691 for "parecía". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering parece 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 “parece” 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