volvíanvsvolvióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,873
“volvían” frequency rank
#1,364
“volvió” frequency rank
23237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature volvían volvió
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de volver o de volverse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de volver o de volverse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set volvían and volvió apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
volvían
6 ch
volvió

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. volvían ([bolˈβ̞iãn]) and volvió ([bolˈβ̞jo]) 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 23237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

volvían is recorded at frequency rank #21,873, classified as averb, pronounced [bolˈβ̞iãn]. volvió is at rank #1,364, tagged as averb, pronounced [bolˈβ̞jo].

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 23237, this pair ranks #246,722 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of volvían vs volvió

Shared letters: lov. Private to "volvían": aní. Private to "volvió": .

"volvían" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "volvió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

volvían#21,873
volvió#1,364

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "volvían" and "volvió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([bolˈβ̞iãn] versus [bolˈβ̞jo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "volvían" or "volvió"?
"volvió" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,364 in our Spanish list, against #21,873 for "volvían". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering volvían vs volvió

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 “volvían” 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