afectabavsafectanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,619
“afectaba” frequency rank
#5,063
“afectan” frequency rank
33682
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature afectaba afectan
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de afectar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de afectar.

Where the eye mixes afectaba and afectan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
afectaba
7 ch
afectan

Look-alike desk: afectaba vs afectan

A purely visual mix-up. afectaba ([afekˈt̪aβ̞a]) and afectan ([aˈfekt̪ãn]) 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 33682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

afectaba is recorded at frequency rank #28,619, classified as averb, pronounced [afekˈt̪aβ̞a]. afectan is at rank #5,063, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈfekt̪ãn].

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 33682, this pair ranks #195,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of afectaba vs afectan

Shared letters: aceft. Private to "afectaba": b. Private to "afectan": n.

"afectaba" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "afectan" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • afectabaaefctaba · afcetaba · afecatba · afecctaba · afectaab · afectabba · afectava · afectbaa
  • afectanaefctan · afcetan · afecatn · afecctan · afectann · afectna · afecttan · afetcan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "afectaba" for "afectan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([afekˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [aˈfekt̪ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "afectaba" or "afectan"?
"afectan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,063 in our Spanish list, against #28,619 for "afectaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "afectaba" and "afectan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "afectaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "afectan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,476 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "afectaba" and "afectan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afectaba vs afectarán". 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 #195,476 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