poníanvsposanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,544
“ponían” frequency rank
#41,551
“posan” frequency rank
55095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ponían posan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de poner. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de posar.

Where the eye mixes ponían and posan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
ponían
5 ch
posan

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ponían ([poˈniãn]) and posan ([ˈposãn]) 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 55095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ponían is recorded at frequency rank #13,544, classified as averb, pronounced [poˈniãn]. posan is at rank #41,551, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈposãn].

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 55095, this pair ranks #80,413 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ponían vs posan

Shared letters: anop. Private to "ponían": í. Private to "posan": s.

"ponían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "posan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • posanopsan · poasn · posann · posna · possan · pposan · psoan

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ponían" and "posan" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([poˈniãn] versus [ˈposãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ponían" or "posan"?
"ponían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,544 in our Spanish list, against #41,551 for "posan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list