Which to use
“sorprendan” and “sorprendía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,821
- “sorprendan” frequency rank
- #46,822
- “sorprendía” frequency rank
- 93643
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sorprendan | sorprendía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de sorprender o de sorprenderse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sorprender o de sorprenderse. |
Where the eye mixes sorprendan and sorprendía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. sorprendan (CVCCCVCCVC) and sorprendía (CVCCCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: sorprendan vs sorprendía
A purely visual mix-up. sorprendan ([soɾˈpɾẽn̪d̪ãn]) and sorprendía ([soɾpɾẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) 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 93643, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sorprendan is recorded at frequency rank #46,821, classified as averb, pronounced [soɾˈpɾẽn̪d̪ãn]. sorprendía is at rank #46,822, tagged as averb, pronounced [soɾpɾẽn̪ˈd̪ia].
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 93643, this pair ranks #1,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sorprendan vs sorprendía
Shared letters: adenoprs. Private to "sorprendan": -. Private to "sorprendía": í.
"sorprendan" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVC · "sorprendía" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sorprendan ← osrprendan · soprrendan · sorperndan · sorpprendan · sorprednan · sorprenadn · sorprendann · sorprenddan
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sorprendan" and "sorprendía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sorprendan" vs "sorprendía" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sorprendan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sorprendía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sorprendan" and "sorprendía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sorprendía vs sorprendo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,058 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.