rompenvsrompióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,198
“rompen” frequency rank
#5,043
“rompió” frequency rank
14241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rompen rompió
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de romper o de romperse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de romper o de romperse.

Where the eye mixes rompen and rompió

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
rompen
6 ch
rompió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. rompen ([ˈrõmpẽn]) and rompió ([rõmˈpjo]) 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 14241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rompen is recorded at frequency rank #9,198, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈrõmpẽn]. rompió is at rank #5,043, tagged as averb, pronounced [rõmˈpjo].

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 14241, this pair ranks #284,900 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of rompen vs rompió

Shared letters: mopr. Private to "rompen": en. Private to "rompió": .

"rompen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "rompió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • rompenormpen · rmopen · romepn · rommpen · rompenn · rompne · romppen · ropmen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rompen" and "rompió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈrõmpẽn] versus [rõmˈpjo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rompen" or "rompió"?
"rompió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,043 in our Spanish list, against #9,198 for "rompen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list