protegíavsprotegióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,802
“protegía” frequency rank
#35,209
“protegió” frequency rank
65011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature protegía protegió
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de proteger. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de proteger.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set protegía and protegió apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
protegía
8 ch
protegió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. protegía ([pɾot̪eˈxia]) and protegió ([pɾot̪eˈxjo]) 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 65011, 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]. protegió is at rank #35,209, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾot̪eˈxjo].

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 65011, this pair ranks #43,893 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of protegía vs protegió

Shared letters: egoprt. Private to "protegía": . Private to "protegió": .

"protegía" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV  ·  "protegió" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

protegía#29,802
protegió#35,209

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "protegía" and "protegió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾot̪eˈxia] versus [pɾot̪eˈxjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "protegía" or "protegió"?
"protegía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,802 in our Spanish list, against #35,209 for "protegió". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering protegía vs protegió

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “protegía” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list