permitíanvspermitidaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: permitían is a verb, permitida is a participle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“permitían” is a verb and “permitida” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,787
“permitían” frequency rank
#20,762
“permitida” frequency rank
38549
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permitían permitida
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de permitir o de permitirse. Forma del femenino de permitido, participio de permitir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permitían and permitida apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
permitían
9 ch
permitida

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: permitían is [peɾmiˈt̪iãn] while permitida is [peɾmiˈt̪ið̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permitían is recorded at frequency rank #17,787, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾmiˈt̪iãn]. permitida is at rank #20,762, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [peɾmiˈt̪ið̞a].

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 38549, this pair ranks #169,399 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permitían vs permitida

Shared letters: aeimprt. Private to "permitían": . Private to "permitida": d.

"permitían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "permitida" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permitidaeprmitida · pemritida · perimtida · permiitda · permitdia · permitiad · permitidda · permittida

Frequency comparison

permitían#17,787
permitida#20,762

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permitían" and "permitida" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "permitían" is a verb and "permitida" a participle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "permitían" or "permitida"?
"permitían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,787 in our Spanish list, against #20,762 for "permitida". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering permitían vs permitida

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “permitían”; for a participle, it's “permitida”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “permitían” 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