Which to use
“partían” is a verb and “patán” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,847
- “partían” frequency rank
- #39,908
- “patán” frequency rank
- 89755
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | partían | patán |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de partir o de partirse. | Falto de inteligencia y cultura. |
Where the eye mixes partían and patán
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. partían runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against patán's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: partían vs patán
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: partían is [paɾˈt̪iãn] while patán is [paˈt̪ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
partían is recorded at frequency rank #49,847, classified as averb, pronounced [paɾˈt̪iãn]. patán is at rank #39,908, tagged as anadj, pronounced [paˈt̪ãn].
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 89755, this pair ranks #2,927 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of partían vs patán
Shared letters: anpt. Private to "partían": rí. Private to "patán": á.
"partían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "patán" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "partían" and "patán" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "partían" or "patán" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "partían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,927 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "partían" and "patán" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partían vs patín". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,927 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.