sentí vs sentido, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sentí” is a verb and “sentido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,447
“sentí” frequency rank: #395
“sentido” frequency rank: 3842
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sentí	sentido
Definition	Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de sentir.	Que manifiesta un sentimiento o lo contiene.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sentí and sentido apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

sentí

7 ch

sentido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sentí is [sẽn̪ˈt̪i] while sentido is [sẽn̪ˈt̪ið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sentí is recorded at frequency rank #3,447, classified as averb, pronounced [sẽn̪ˈt̪i]. sentido is at rank #395, tagged as anadj, pronounced [sẽn̪ˈt̪ið̞o].

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 3842, this pair ranks #317,434 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sentí vs sentido

Shared letters: enst. Private to "sentí": í. Private to "sentido": dio.

"sentí" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "sentido" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

sentido ← centido · esntido · senitdo · senntido · sentdio · sentiddo · sentiod · senttido

Frequency comparison

sentí#3,447

sentido#395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sentí" and "sentido" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sentí" is a verb and "sentido" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sentí" or "sentido"?

"sentido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #395 in our Spanish list, against #3,447 for "sentí". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sentí vs sentido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “sentí”; for an adjective, it's “sentido”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sentí” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable