respondasvsrespondíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,763
“respondas” frequency rank
#36,799
“respondían” frequency rank
64562
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature respondas respondían
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de responder. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de responder.

Where the eye mixes respondas and respondían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. respondas runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVC) against respondían's 10 (CVCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
respondas
10 ch
respondían

Why the eye confuses respondas with respondían

A purely visual mix-up. respondas ([resˈpõn̪d̪as]) and respondían ([respõn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 64562, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

respondas is recorded at frequency rank #27,763, classified as averb, pronounced [resˈpõn̪d̪as]. respondían is at rank #36,799, tagged as averb, pronounced [respõn̪ˈd̪iãn].

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 64562, this pair ranks #45,221 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of respondas vs respondían

Shared letters: adenoprs. Private to "respondas": -. Private to "respondían": í.

"respondas" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "respondían" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • respondas ← erspondas · repsondas · resopndas · respnodas · respodnas · responads · respondass · responddas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "respondas" for "respondían" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([resˈpõn̪d̪as] versus [respõn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "respondas" or "respondían"?
"respondas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,763 in our Spanish list, against #36,799 for "respondían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "respondas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "respondían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,221 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "respondas" and "respondían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "responderán vs respondían". 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 #45,221 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