Which to use
“protegían” and “protejan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,205
- “protegían” frequency rank
- #26,576
- “protejan” frequency rank
- 69781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | protegían | protejan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de proteger. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de proteger. |
Where the eye mixes protegían and protejan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses protegían with protejan
A purely visual mix-up. protegían ([pɾot̪eˈxiãn]) and protejan ([pɾoˈt̪exãn]) 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 69781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
protegían is recorded at frequency rank #43,205, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾot̪eˈxiãn]. protejan is at rank #26,576, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈt̪exãn].
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 69781, this pair ranks #31,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of protegían vs protejan
Shared letters: aenoprt. Private to "protegían": gí. Private to "protejan": j.
"protegían" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVVC · "protejan" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- protejan ← portejan · pprotejan · proetjan · proteajn · protejann · protejjan · protejna · protjean
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "protegían" for "protejan" ever safe?
Which is more common, "protegían" or "protejan"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "protegían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "protejan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #31,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "protegían" and "protejan" 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 #31,210 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.