Which to use
“responder” and “respondía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,915
- “responder” frequency rank
- #16,969
- “respondía” frequency rank
- 18884
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | responder | respondía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contestar, satisfacer a lo que se pregunta o propone. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de responder. |
Where the eye mixes responder and respondía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. responder (CVCCVCCVC) and respondía (CVCCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between responder and respondía
A purely visual mix-up. responder ([respõn̪ˈd̪eɾ]) and respondía ([respõn̪ˈd̪ia]) 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 18884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
responder is recorded at frequency rank #1,915, classified as averb, pronounced [respõn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. respondía is at rank #16,969, tagged as averb, pronounced [respõn̪ˈd̪ia].
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 18884, this pair ranks #266,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of responder vs respondía
Shared letters: denoprs. Private to "responder": -. Private to "respondía": aí.
"responder" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC · "respondía" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- responder ← ersponder · repsonder · resopnder · respnoder · respodner · respondder · responderr · respondre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "responder" for "respondía" ever safe?
Which is more common, "responder" or "respondía"?
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 "responder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "respondía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #266,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "responder" and "respondía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "respondía vs respondiera". 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 #266,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.