unían vs unión, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“unían” is a verb and “unión” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,867
“unían” frequency rank: #904
“unión” frequency rank: 37771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	unían	unión
Definition	Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de unir o de unirse.	Acción y efecto de unir o unirse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set unían and unión apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

unían

5 ch

unión

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: unían is [uˈniãn] while unión is [uˈnjõn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

unían is recorded at frequency rank #36,867, classified as averb, pronounced [uˈniãn]. unión is at rank #904, tagged as anoun, pronounced [uˈnjõn].

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 37771, this pair ranks #173,573 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of unían vs unión

Shared letters: nu. Private to "unían": aí. Private to "unión": ió.

"unían" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "unión" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Frequency comparison

unían#36,867

unión#904

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "unían" and "unión" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "unían" is a verb and "unión" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "unían" or "unión"?

"unión" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #904 in our Spanish list, against #36,867 for "unían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering unían vs unión

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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