respaldanvsrespondanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#26,987
“respaldan” frequency rank
#15,709
“respondan” frequency rank
42696
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature respaldan respondan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de respaldar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de responder.

Where the eye mixes respaldan and respondan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
respaldan
9 ch
respondan

Look-alike desk: respaldan vs respondan

A purely visual mix-up. respaldan ([resˈpal̪d̪ãn]) and respondan ([resˈpõn̪d̪ãn]) 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 42696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

respaldan is recorded at frequency rank #26,987, classified as averb, pronounced [resˈpal̪d̪ãn]. respondan is at rank #15,709, tagged as averb, pronounced [resˈpõn̪d̪ãn].

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 42696, this pair ranks #146,788 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of respaldan vs respondan

Shared letters: adenprs. Private to "respaldan": l. Private to "respondan": o.

"respaldan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "respondan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • respaldanerspaldan · repsaldan · resapldan · respadlan · respaladn · respaldann · respalddan · respaldna
  • respondanerspondan · repsondan · resopndan · respnodan · respodnan · responadn · respondann · responddan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "respaldan" for "respondan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([resˈpal̪d̪ãn] versus [resˈpõn̪d̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "respaldan" vs "respondan" - which ranks higher?
"respondan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,709 in our Spanish list, against #26,987 for "respaldan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "respaldan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "respondan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #146,788 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "respaldan" and "respondan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "respaldan vs respaldos". 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 #146,788 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