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 eye mixes permitían and permitió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. permitían runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVVC) against permitió's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses permitían with permitió
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "permitían" for "permitió" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "permitían" or "permitió" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "permitían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "permitió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "permitían" and "permitió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "permitían vs permitiré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #254,574 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.