partíanvsperdíanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#49,847
“partían” frequency rank
#32,795
“perdían” frequency rank
82642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature partían perdían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de partir o de partirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de perder o de perderse.

Where the eye mixes partían and perdían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. partían and perdían follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
partían
7 ch
perdían

Look-alike desk: partían vs perdían

A purely visual mix-up. partían ([paɾˈt̪iãn]) and perdían ([peɾˈð̞iãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82642, 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]. perdían is at rank #32,795, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾˈð̞iãn].

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 82642, this pair ranks #9,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of partían vs perdían

Shared letters: anprí. Private to "partían": t. Private to "perdían": de.

"partían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "perdían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "partían" and "perdían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paɾˈt̪iãn] versus [peɾˈð̞iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "partían" vs "perdían" - which ranks higher?
"perdían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,795 in our Spanish list, against #49,847 for "partían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "partían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "perdían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "partían" and "perdían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partían vs patín". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #9,021 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list