Which to use
“respondía” and “respondían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,969
- “respondía” frequency rank
- #36,799
- “respondían” frequency rank
- 53768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | respondía | respondían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de responder. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de responder. |
Where the eye mixes respondía and respondían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. respondía runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCVV) against respondían's 10 (CVCCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses respondía with respondían
A purely visual mix-up. respondía ([respõn̪ˈd̪ia]) 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 extra letter(s) - “respondía” sits inside “respondían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
respondía is recorded at frequency rank #16,969, classified as averb, pronounced [respõn̪ˈd̪ia]. 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 53768, this pair ranks #86,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of respondía vs respondían
Shared letters: adenoprsí. Private to "respondía": -. Private to "respondían": -.
"respondía" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV · "respondían" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "respondía" and "respondían" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "respondía" or "respondían" show up more?
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 "respondía" 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 #86,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "respondía" and "respondían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "responderán vs respondían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #86,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.