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 eye mixes tendía and tendían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tendía runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against tendían's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tendía vs tendían
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tendía" and "tendían" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tendía" or "tendían"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tendía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tendían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,366 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tendía" and "tendían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendía vs teñida". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #4,366 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.