sucedían vs sucedió, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#45,625
“sucedían” frequency rank: #2,807
“sucedió” frequency rank: 48432
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sucedían	sucedió
Definition	Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de suceder.	Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de suceder.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sucedían and sucedió apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

sucedían

7 ch

sucedió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sucedían ([suseˈð̞iãn]) and sucedió ([suseˈð̞jo]) 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 48432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucedían is recorded at frequency rank #45,625, classified as averb, pronounced [suseˈð̞iãn]. sucedió is at rank #2,807, tagged as averb, pronounced [suseˈð̞jo].

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 48432, this pair ranks #114,515 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sucedían vs sucedió

Shared letters: cdesu. Private to "sucedían": aní. Private to "sucedió": ió.

"sucedían" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "sucedió" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequency comparison

sucedían#45,625

sucedió#2,807

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sucedían" and "sucedió" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([suseˈð̞iãn] versus [suseˈð̞jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "sucedían" or "sucedió"?

"sucedió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,807 in our Spanish list, against #45,625 for "sucedían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering sucedían vs sucedió

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sucedían” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable