Which to use
“protegía” and “protegían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,802
- “protegía” frequency rank
- #43,205
- “protegían” frequency rank
- 73007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | protegía | protegían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto 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 protegía and protegían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. protegía runs 8 letters (CCVCVCVV) against protegían's 9 (CCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: protegía vs protegían
A purely visual mix-up. protegía ([pɾot̪eˈxia]) 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 extra letter(s) - “protegía” sits inside “protegían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
protegía is recorded at frequency rank #29,802, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾot̪eˈxia]. 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 73007, this pair ranks #24,193 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of protegía vs protegían
Shared letters: aegoprtí. Private to "protegía": -. Private to "protegían": n.
"protegía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV · "protegían" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "protegía" for "protegían" ever safe?
Which is more common, "protegía" or "protegían"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "protegía" 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 #24,193 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "protegía" and "protegían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "protegían vs protegió". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #24,193 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.