Which to use
“protegen” and “protegían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,905
- “protegen” frequency rank
- #43,205
- “protegían” frequency rank
- 56110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | protegen | protegían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de proteger. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de proteger. |
Where the eye mixes protegen and protegían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: protegen vs protegían
A purely visual mix-up. protegen ([pɾoˈt̪exẽn]) and protegían ([pɾot̪eˈxiãn]) 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 56110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
protegen is recorded at frequency rank #12,905, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈt̪exẽn]. protegían is at rank #43,205, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾot̪eˈxiãn].
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 56110, this pair ranks #76,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of protegen vs protegían
Shared letters: egnoprt. Private to "protegen": -. Private to "protegían": aí.
"protegen" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "protegían" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- protegen ← portegen · pprotegen · proetgen · proteegn · protegenn · proteggen · protegne · protgeen
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "protegen" for "protegían" ever safe?
Which is more common, "protegen" or "protegían"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "protegen" and "protegían" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "protegen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "protegían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #76,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "protegen" and "protegían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "protegían vs protegió". 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 #76,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.