perdíanvsperdióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,795
“perdían” frequency rank
#1,873
“perdió” frequency rank
34668
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perdían perdió
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de perder o de perderse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de perder o de perderse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perdían and perdió apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
perdían
6 ch
perdió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perdían ([peɾˈð̞iãn]) and perdió ([peɾˈð̞jo]) 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 34668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perdían is recorded at frequency rank #32,795, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾˈð̞iãn]. perdió is at rank #1,873, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾˈð̞jo].

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 34668, this pair ranks #190,227 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perdían vs perdió

Shared letters: depr. Private to "perdían": aní. Private to "perdió": .

"perdían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "perdió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

perdían#32,795
perdió#1,873

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perdían" and "perdió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([peɾˈð̞iãn] versus [peɾˈð̞jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perdían" or "perdió"?
"perdió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,873 in our Spanish list, against #32,795 for "perdían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering perdían vs perdió

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 “perdían” 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