Which to use
“sorprendido” and “sorprendió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,011
- “sorprendido” frequency rank
- #6,462
- “sorprendió” frequency rank
- 12473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sorprendido | sorprendió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participio de sorprender o de sorprenderse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de sorprender o de sorprenderse. |
Where the eye mixes sorprendido and sorprendió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. sorprendido runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCCVCV) against sorprendió's 10 (CVCCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sorprendido with sorprendió
A purely visual mix-up. sorprendido ([soɾpɾẽn̪ˈd̪ið̞o]) and sorprendió ([soɾpɾẽn̪ˈd̪jo]) 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 12473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sorprendido is recorded at frequency rank #6,011, classified as averb, pronounced [soɾpɾẽn̪ˈd̪ið̞o]. sorprendió is at rank #6,462, tagged as averb, pronounced [soɾpɾẽn̪ˈd̪jo].
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 12473, this pair ranks #291,430 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sorprendido vs sorprendió
Shared letters: deinoprs. Private to "sorprendido": -. Private to "sorprendió": ó.
"sorprendido" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVCV · "sorprendió" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sorprendido ← osrprendido · soprrendido · sorperndido · sorpprendido · sorprednido · sorprenddido · sorprenddio · sorprendiddo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sorprendido" for "sorprendió" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sorprendido" or "sorprendió"?
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 "sorprendido" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sorprendió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,430 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sorprendido" and "sorprendió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sorprendía vs sorprendió". 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 #291,430 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.