Which to use
“respondían” and “respondió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,799
- “respondían” frequency rank
- #3,147
- “respondió” frequency rank
- 39946
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | respondían | respondió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) 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 respondían and respondió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. respondían runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCVVC) against respondió's 9 (CVCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses respondían with respondió
A purely visual mix-up. respondían ([respõn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
respondían is recorded at frequency rank #36,799, classified as averb, pronounced [respõn̪ˈd̪iãn]. 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 39946, this pair ranks #161,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of respondían vs respondió
Shared letters: denoprs. Private to "respondían": aí. Private to "respondió": ió.
"respondían" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC · "respondió" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "respondían" for "respondió" ever safe?
Which is more common, "respondían" or "respondió"?
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 "respondían" 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 #161,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "respondían" and "respondió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "responderán vs respondían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #161,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.