perdíanvspermitanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,795
“perdían” frequency rank
#6,937
“permitan” frequency rank
39732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perdían permitan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de perder o de perderse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de permitir o de permitirse.

Where the eye mixes perdían and permitan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. perdían runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against permitan's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
perdían
8 ch
permitan

Look-alike desk: perdían vs permitan

A purely visual mix-up. perdían ([peɾˈð̞iãn]) and permitan ([peɾˈmit̪ãn]) 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 39732, 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]. permitan is at rank #6,937, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾˈmit̪ãn].

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 39732, this pair ranks #162,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perdían vs permitan

Shared letters: aenpr. Private to "perdían": dí. Private to "permitan": imt.

"perdían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "permitan" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permitan ← eprmitan · pemritan · perimtan · permiatn · permitann · permitna · permittan · permmitan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perdían" and "permitan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([peɾˈð̞iãn] versus [peɾˈmit̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "perdían" vs "permitan" - which ranks higher?
"permitan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,937 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "perdían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "permitan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #162,923 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "perdían" and "permitan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "partían vs perdían". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #162,923 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