permitíanvspermitióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,787
“permitían” frequency rank
#3,729
“permitió” frequency rank
21516
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permitían permitió
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de permitir o de permitirse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de permitir o de permitirse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permitían and permitió apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
permitían
8 ch
permitió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. permitían ([peɾmiˈt̪iãn]) and permitió ([peɾmiˈt̪jo]) 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 21516, 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]. permitió is at rank #3,729, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾmiˈt̪jo].

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 21516, this pair ranks #254,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of permitían vs permitió

Shared letters: eimprt. Private to "permitían": aní. Private to "permitió": ó.

"permitían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "permitió" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Frequency comparison

permitían#17,787
permitió#3,729

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permitían" and "permitió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([peɾmiˈt̪iãn] versus [peɾmiˈt̪jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "permitían" or "permitió"?
"permitió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,729 in our Spanish list, against #17,787 for "permitían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering permitían vs permitió

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 “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