Which to use
“pintan” and “ponían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,672
- “pintan” frequency rank
- #13,544
- “ponían” frequency rank
- 30216
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pintan | ponían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pintar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de poner. |
Where the eye mixes pintan and ponían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pintan (CVCCVC) and ponían (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: pintan vs ponían
A purely visual mix-up. pintan ([ˈpĩn̪t̪ãn]) and ponían ([poˈniãn]) 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 30216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pintan is recorded at frequency rank #16,672, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpĩn̪t̪ãn]. ponían is at rank #13,544, tagged as averb, pronounced [poˈniãn].
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 30216, this pair ranks #213,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pintan vs ponían
Shared letters: anp. Private to "pintan": it. Private to "ponían": oí.
"pintan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "ponían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pintan ← ipntan · pinatn · pinntan · pintann · pintna · pinttan · pitnan · pnitan
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pintan" and "ponían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pintan" or "ponían" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pintan" and "ponían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pintan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ponían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pintan" and "ponían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pintan vs puntal". 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 #213,082 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.