acabevsacabenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: acabe is a noun, acaben is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“acabe” is a noun and “acaben” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,792
“acabe” frequency rank
#15,762
“acaben” frequency rank
21554
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature acabe acaben
Definition Acción o efecto de acabar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de acabar.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set acabe and acaben apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
acabe
6 ch
acaben

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: acabe is [aˈkaβ̞e] while acaben is [aˈkaβ̞ẽn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “acabe” sits inside “acaben”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

acabe is recorded at frequency rank #5,792, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞e]. acaben is at rank #15,762, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈkaβ̞ẽn].

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 21554, this pair ranks #254,398 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of acabe vs acaben

Shared letters: abce. Private to "acabe": -. Private to "acaben": n.

"acabe" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "acaben" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • acabeaacbe · acabbe · acaeb · acave · acbae · accabe · caabe
  • acabenaacben · acabben · acabenn · acabne · acaebn · acaven · acbaen · accaben

Frequency comparison

acabe#5,792
acaben#15,762

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "acabe" and "acaben" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "acabe" is a noun and "acaben" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "acabe" or "acaben"?
"acabe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,792 in our Spanish list, against #15,762 for "acaben". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering acabe vs acaben

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “acabe”; for a verb, it's “acaben”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “acabe” 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