valíanvsvalidarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#40,063
“valían” frequency rank
#20,856
“validar” frequency rank
60919
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valían validar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de valer o de valerse. Verificar que se cumplan determinadas condiciones en algo.

Where the eye mixes valían and validar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
valían
7 ch
validar

Visual trap between valían and validar

A purely visual mix-up. valían ([baˈliãn]) and validar ([baliˈð̞aɾ]) 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 60919, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valían is recorded at frequency rank #40,063, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈliãn]. validar is at rank #20,856, tagged as averb, pronounced [baliˈð̞aɾ].

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 60919, this pair ranks #57,231 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of valían vs validar

Shared letters: alv. Private to "valían": . Private to "validar": dir.

"valían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "validar" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • validaravlidar · balidar · vaildar · valdiar · valiadr · validarr · validdar · validra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "valían" for "validar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([baˈliãn] versus [baliˈð̞aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "valían" vs "validar" - which ranks higher?
"validar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,856 in our Spanish list, against #40,063 for "valían". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "valían" and "validar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "valían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "validar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,231 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valían" and "validar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valían vs vallan". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #57,231 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list