Which to use
“sostenían” is a verb and “sostenido” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,853
- “sostenían” frequency rank
- #10,935
- “sostenido” frequency rank
- 44788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sostenían | sostenido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sostener o de sostenerse. | Apoyado con el favor de otro. |
Where the eye mixes sostenían and sostenido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. sostenían (CVCCVCVVC) and sostenido (CVCCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: sostenían vs sostenido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sostenían is [sost̪eˈniãn] while sostenido is [sost̪eˈnið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sostenían is recorded at frequency rank #33,853, classified as averb, pronounced [sost̪eˈniãn]. sostenido is at rank #10,935, tagged as anadj, pronounced [sost̪eˈnið̞o].
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 44788, this pair ranks #135,127 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sostenían vs sostenido
Shared letters: enost. Private to "sostenían": aí. Private to "sostenido": di.
"sostenían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC · "sostenido" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sostenido ← osstenido · sosetnido · sosstenido · sosteindo · sostendio · sosteniddo · sosteniod · sostennido
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sostenían" for "sostenido" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sostenían" or "sostenido" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sostenían" and "sostenido" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sostenían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sostenido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,127 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sostenían" and "sostenido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sostenían vs sostenidas". 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 #135,127 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.