proponíavsproponíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,220
“proponía” frequency rank
#41,027
“proponían” frequency rank
60247
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature proponía proponían
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de proponer. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de proponer.

Where the eye mixes proponía and proponían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. proponía runs 8 letters (CCVCVCVV) against proponían's 9 (CCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
proponía
9 ch
proponían

Why the eye confuses proponía with proponían

A purely visual mix-up. proponía ([pɾopoˈnia]) and proponían ([pɾopoˈniãn]) 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) - “proponía” sits inside “proponían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60247, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

proponía is recorded at frequency rank #19,220, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾopoˈnia]. proponían is at rank #41,027, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾopoˈniãn].

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 60247, this pair ranks #59,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of proponía vs proponían

Shared letters: anoprí. Private to "proponía": -. Private to "proponían": -.

"proponía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "proponían" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "proponía" and "proponían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾopoˈnia] versus [pɾopoˈniãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "proponía" vs "proponían" - which ranks higher?
"proponía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,220 in our Spanish list, against #41,027 for "proponían". 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 "proponía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proponían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,623 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "proponía" and "proponían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "propongan vs proponían". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #59,623 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