Which to use
“respondía” and “respondió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,969
- “respondía” frequency rank
- #3,147
- “respondió” frequency rank
- 20116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | respondía | respondió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de responder. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de responder. |
Where the eye mixes respondía and respondió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. respondía and respondió follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between respondía and respondió
A purely visual mix-up. respondía ([respõn̪ˈd̪ia]) and respondió ([respõn̪ˈd̪jo]) 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 20116, 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]. respondió is at rank #3,147, tagged as averb, pronounced [respõn̪ˈd̪jo].
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 20116, this pair ranks #260,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of respondía vs respondió
Shared letters: denoprs. Private to "respondía": aí. Private to "respondió": ió.
"respondía" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV · "respondió" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "respondía" and "respondió" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "respondía" or "respondió" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "respondió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "respondía" and "respondió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "respondía vs respondiera". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #260,732 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.