pedíanvsperdíanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,893
“pedían” frequency rank
#32,795
“perdían” frequency rank
45688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes pedían and perdían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pedían runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against perdían's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
pedían
7 ch
perdían

Why the eye confuses pedían with perdían

A purely visual mix-up. pedían ([peˈð̞iãn]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedían is recorded at frequency rank #12,893, classified as averb, pronounced [peˈð̞iãn]. 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 45688, this pair ranks #129,996 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pedían vs perdían

Shared letters: adenpí. Private to "pedían": -. Private to "perdían": r.

"pedían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "perdían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pedían" for "perdían" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peˈð̞iãn] versus [peɾˈð̞iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pedían" or "perdían"?
"pedían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,893 in our Spanish list, against #32,795 for "perdían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pedían" and "perdían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pedían" 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 #129,996 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pedían" and "perdían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partían vs perdían". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #129,996 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