permitíanvspermitiríanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#17,787
“permitían” frequency rank
#29,338
“permitirían” frequency rank
47125
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permitían permitirían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de permitir o de permitirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del condicional de permitir o de permitirse.

Where the eye mixes permitían and permitirían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
permitían
11 ch
permitirían

Look-alike desk: permitían vs permitirían

A purely visual mix-up. permitían ([peɾmiˈt̪iãn]) and permitirían ([peɾmit̪iˈɾiãn]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47125, 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]. permitirían is at rank #29,338, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾmit̪iˈɾiãn].

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 47125, this pair ranks #121,788 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permitían vs permitirían

Shared letters: aeimnprtí. Private to "permitían": -. Private to "permitirían": -.

"permitían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "permitirían" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permitían" and "permitirían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([peɾmiˈt̪iãn] versus [peɾmit̪iˈɾiãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "permitían" or "permitirían"?
"permitían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,787 in our Spanish list, against #29,338 for "permitirían". 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 "permitían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "permitirían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,788 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "permitían" and "permitirían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "permitieran vs permitirían". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #121,788 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