Which to use
“acercaba” and “acercaban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,744
- “acercaba” frequency rank
- #29,901
- “acercaban” frequency rank
- 44645
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | acercaba | acercaban |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de acercar o de acercarse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de acercar o de acercarse. |
Where the eye mixes acercaba and acercaban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: acercaba vs acercaban
A purely visual mix-up. acercaba ([aseɾˈkaβ̞a]) and acercaban ([aseɾˈkaβ̞ãn]) 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 extra letter(s) - “acercaba” sits inside “acercaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
acercaba is recorded at frequency rank #14,744, classified as averb, pronounced [aseɾˈkaβ̞a]. acercaban is at rank #29,901, tagged as averb, pronounced [aseɾˈkaβ̞ãn].
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 44645, this pair ranks #135,911 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of acercaba vs acercaban
Shared letters: abcer. Private to "acercaba": -. Private to "acercaban": n.
"acercaba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV · "acercaban" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "acercaba" for "acercaban" ever safe?
Which is more common, "acercaba" or "acercaban"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "acercaba" and "acercaban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "acercaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "acercaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,911 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "acercaba" and "acercaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acercaban vs acercará". 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 #135,911 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.