sucedióvssucioWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sucedió is a verb, sucio is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,807
“sucedió” frequency rank
#6,012
“sucio” frequency rank
8819
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sucedió sucio
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de suceder. Se dice de lo que no está limpio.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
sucedió
5 ch
sucio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sucedió is [suseˈð̞jo] while sucio is [ˈsusjo]. 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 8819, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucedió is recorded at frequency rank #2,807, classified as averb, pronounced [suseˈð̞jo]. sucio is at rank #6,012, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈsusjo].

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 8819, this pair ranks #303,831 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sucedió vs sucio

Shared letters: cisu. Private to "sucedió": deó. Private to "sucio": o.

"sucedió" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "sucio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sucioscuio · ssucio · succio · sucoi · suico · susio · uscio

Frequency comparison

sucedió#2,807
sucio#6,012

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sucedió" and "sucio" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sucedió" is a verb and "sucio" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sucedió" or "sucio"?
"sucedió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,807 in our Spanish list, against #6,012 for "sucio". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sucedió vs sucio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list