salíanvssolíanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,249
“salían” frequency rank
#10,423
“solían” frequency rank
22672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature salían solían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de salir o de salirse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de soler.

Where the eye mixes salían and solían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
salían
6 ch
solían

Look-alike desk: salían vs solían

A purely visual mix-up. salían ([saˈliãn]) and solían ([soˈliãn]) 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 a single letter - a in “salían” becomes o in “solían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

salían is recorded at frequency rank #12,249, classified as averb, pronounced [saˈliãn]. solían is at rank #10,423, tagged as averb, pronounced [soˈliãn].

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 22672, this pair ranks #249,253 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of salían vs solían

Shared letters: alnsí. Private to "salían": -. Private to "solían": o.

"salían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "solían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "salían" and "solían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([saˈliãn] versus [soˈliãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "salían" vs "solían" - which ranks higher?
"solían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,423 in our Spanish list, against #12,249 for "salían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "salían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "solían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,253 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "salían" and "solían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "salían vs salman". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #249,253 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list