persistenvspersistirWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,399
“persisten” frequency rank
#36,742
“persistir” frequency rank
62141
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature persisten persistir
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de persistir. Permanecer a pesar de los intentos por que algo se vaya o desaparezca.

Where the eye mixes persisten and persistir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. persisten and persistir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
persisten
9 ch
persistir

Why the eye confuses persisten with persistir

A purely visual mix-up. persisten ([peɾˈsist̪ẽn]) and persistir ([peɾsisˈt̪iɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

persisten is recorded at frequency rank #25,399, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾˈsist̪ẽn]. persistir is at rank #36,742, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾsisˈt̪iɾ].

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 62141, this pair ranks #53,001 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of persisten vs persistir

Shared letters: eiprst. Private to "persisten": n. Private to "persistir": -.

"persisten" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "persistir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • persisten ← eprsisten · percisten · perissten · perrsisten · persisetn · persissten · persistenn · persistne
  • persistir ← eprsistir · percistir · perisstir · perrsistir · persisitr · persisstir · persistirr · persistri

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "persisten" and "persistir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([peɾˈsist̪ẽn] versus [peɾsisˈt̪iɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "persisten" vs "persistir" - which ranks higher?
"persisten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,399 in our Spanish list, against #36,742 for "persistir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "persisten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "persistir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,001 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "persisten" and "persistir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persiste vs persistir". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #53,001 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