Which to use
“sufrían” and “sufrió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,854
- “sufrían” frequency rank
- #4,200
- “sufrió” frequency rank
- 34054
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sufrían | sufrió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de sufrir. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de sufrir. |
Where the eye mixes sufrían and sufrió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sufrían runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against sufrió's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sufrían with sufrió
A purely visual mix-up. sufrían ([suˈfɾiãn]) and sufrió ([suˈfɾjo]) 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 34054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sufrían is recorded at frequency rank #29,854, classified as averb, pronounced [suˈfɾiãn]. sufrió is at rank #4,200, tagged as averb, pronounced [suˈfɾjo].
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 34054, this pair ranks #193,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sufrían vs sufrió
Shared letters: frsu. Private to "sufrían": aní. Private to "sufrió": ió.
"sufrían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "sufrió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sufrían" for "sufrió" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sufrían" or "sufrió" show up more?
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 "sufrían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sufrió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sufrían" and "sufrió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sufras vs sufrían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #193,479 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.