tendíavstendíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,484
“tendía” frequency rank
#48,111
“tendían” frequency rank
87595
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendía tendían
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de tender o de tenderse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de tender o de tenderse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tendía and tendían apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
tendía
7 ch
tendían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tendía ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) and tendían ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “tendía” sits inside “tendían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendía is recorded at frequency rank #39,484, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia]. tendían is at rank #48,111, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn].

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 87595, this pair ranks #4,366 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tendía vs tendían

Shared letters: adentí. Private to "tendía": -. Private to "tendían": -.

"tendía" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "tendían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

tendía#39,484
tendían#48,111

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tendía" and "tendían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia] versus [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tendía" or "tendían"?
"tendía" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,484 in our Spanish list, against #48,111 for "tendían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tendía vs tendían

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 “tendía” 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