pedíavspedísWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,895
“pedía” frequency rank
#29,781
“pedís” frequency rank
37676
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedía pedís
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pedir. Segunda persona del singular (vos) del presente de indicativo de pedir.

Where the eye mixes pedía and pedís

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pedía (CVCVV) and pedís (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
pedía
5 ch
pedís

Visual trap between pedía and pedís

A purely visual mix-up. pedía ([peˈð̞ia]) and pedís ([peˈð̞is]) 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 - a in “pedía” becomes s in “pedís”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedía is recorded at frequency rank #7,895, classified as averb, pronounced [peˈð̞ia]. pedís is at rank #29,781, tagged as averb, pronounced [peˈð̞is].

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 37676, this pair ranks #174,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pedía vs pedís

Shared letters: depí. Private to "pedía": a. Private to "pedís": s.

"pedía" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "pedís" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pedía" for "pedís" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peˈð̞ia] versus [peˈð̞is]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pedía" or "pedís"?
"pedía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,895 in our Spanish list, against #29,781 for "pedís". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "pedía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pedís" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #174,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pedía" and "pedís" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pedís vs pelas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #174,050 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