Which to use
“perseguía” and “perseguían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,718
- “perseguía” frequency rank
- #34,718
- “perseguían” frequency rank
- 62436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perseguía | perseguían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de perseguir. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de perseguir. |
Where the eye mixes perseguía and perseguían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. perseguía runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVVV) against perseguían's 10 (CVCCVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between perseguía and perseguían
A purely visual mix-up. perseguía ([peɾseˈɣ̞ia]) and perseguían ([peɾseˈɣ̞iãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “perseguía” sits inside “perseguían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perseguía is recorded at frequency rank #27,718, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾseˈɣ̞ia]. perseguían is at rank #34,718, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾseˈɣ̞iãn].
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 62436, this pair ranks #52,037 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of perseguía vs perseguían
Shared letters: aegprsuí. Private to "perseguía": -. Private to "perseguían": n.
"perseguía" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVV · "perseguían" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "perseguía" and "perseguían" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "perseguía" vs "perseguían" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "perseguía" and "perseguían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "perseguía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "perseguían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,037 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perseguía" and "perseguían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perseguían vs perseguidas". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,037 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.