Which to use
“acaba” is a verb and “árabe” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,232
- “acaba” frequency rank
- #3,530
- “árabe” frequency rank
- 4762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acaba | árabe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de acabar. | Propio de, relativo o perteneciente al grupo étnico de habla semítica, originario de la península arábiga y los territorios circundantes, que habla el idioma árabe₅ y cuya población se concentra principalmente en el norte de África y en Oriente Medio. |
Where the eye mixes acaba and árabe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between acaba and árabe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acaba is [aˈkaβ̞a] while árabe is [ˈaɾaβ̞e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acaba is recorded at frequency rank #1,232, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞a]. árabe is at rank #3,530, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈaɾaβ̞e].
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 4762, this pair ranks #315,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of acaba vs árabe
Shared letters: ab. Private to "acaba": c. Private to "árabe": erá.
"acaba" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "árabe" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- acaba ← aacba · acaab · acabba · acava · acbaa · accaba · caaba
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acaba" for "árabe" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "acaba" or "árabe" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "acaba" and "árabe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "acaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "árabe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acaba" and "árabe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abrace vs árabe". 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 #315,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.