acabasvsalabanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,074
“acabas” frequency rank
#39,557
“alaban” frequency rank
47631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acabas alaban
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de acabar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alabar.

Where the eye mixes acabas and alaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. acabas and alaban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
acabas
6 ch
alaban

Look-alike desk: acabas vs alaban

A purely visual mix-up. acabas ([aˈkaβ̞as]) and alaban ([aˈlaβ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acabas is recorded at frequency rank #8,074, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞as]. alaban is at rank #39,557, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈlaβ̞ãn].

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 47631, this pair ranks #118,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of acabas vs alaban

Shared letters: ab. Private to "acabas": cs. Private to "alaban": ln.

"acabas" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alaban" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acabas ← aacbas · acaabs · acabass · acabbas · acabsa · acavas · acbaas · accabas
  • alaban ← aalban · alaabn · alabann · alabban · alabna · alavan · albaan · allaban

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acabas" and "alaban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈkaβ̞as] versus [aˈlaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "acabas" or "alaban" show up more?
"acabas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,074 in our Spanish list, against #39,557 for "alaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "acabas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #118,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "acabas" and "alaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alaban vs Albany". 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 #118,973 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