Which to use
“valían” and “valió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,063
- “valían” frequency rank
- #8,734
- “valió” frequency rank
- 48797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valían | valió |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de valer o de valerse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de valer o de valerse. |
Where the eye mixes valían and valió
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. valían runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against valió's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between valían and valió
A purely visual mix-up. valían ([baˈliãn]) and valió ([baˈljo]) 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 48797, 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]. valió is at rank #8,734, tagged as averb, pronounced [baˈljo].
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 48797, this pair ranks #112,484 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of valían vs valió
Shared letters: alv. Private to "valían": ní. Private to "valió": ió.
"valían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "valió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "valían" for "valió" ever safe?
Frequency check: "valían" vs "valió" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "valían" and "valió" 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 "valió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,484 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valían" and "valió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valían vs vallan". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #112,484 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.