permanecíanvspermanezcanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,956
“permanecían” frequency rank
#23,174
“permanezcan” frequency rank
50130
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permanecían permanezcan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de permanecer. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de permanecer.

Where the eye mixes permanecían and permanezcan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. permanecían (CVCCVCVCVVC) and permanezcan (CVCCVCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

11 ch
permanecían
11 ch
permanezcan

Look-alike desk: permanecían vs permanezcan

A purely visual mix-up. permanecían ([peɾmaneˈsiãn]) and permanezcan ([peɾmaˈneskãn]) 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 50130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permanecían is recorded at frequency rank #26,956, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾmaneˈsiãn]. permanezcan is at rank #23,174, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾmaˈneskãn].

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 50130, this pair ranks #104,925 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permanecían vs permanezcan

Shared letters: acemnpr. Private to "permanecían": í. Private to "permanezcan": z.

"permanecían" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVVC  ·  "permanezcan" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permanezcan ← eprmanezcan · pemranezcan · peramnezcan · permaenzcan · permaneczan · permanezacn · permanezcann · permanezccan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "permanecían" for "permanezcan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([peɾmaneˈsiãn] versus [peɾmaˈneskãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "permanecían" vs "permanezcan" - which ranks higher?
"permanezcan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,174 in our Spanish list, against #26,956 for "permanecían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "permanecían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "permanezcan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,925 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "permanecían" and "permanezcan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "permanezcan vs pertenezcan". 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 #104,925 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