Which to use
“afectaban” and “afectaron” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,718
- “afectaban” frequency rank
- #23,291
- “afectaron” frequency rank
- 65009
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | afectaban | afectaron |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de afectar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de afectar. |
Where the eye mixes afectaban and afectaron
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses afectaban with afectaron
A purely visual mix-up. afectaban ([afekˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and afectaron ([afekˈt̪aɾõn]) 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 65009, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
afectaban is recorded at frequency rank #41,718, classified as averb, pronounced [afekˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. afectaron is at rank #23,291, tagged as averb, pronounced [afekˈt̪aɾõn].
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 65009, this pair ranks #43,897 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of afectaban vs afectaron
Shared letters: acefnt. Private to "afectaban": b. Private to "afectaron": or.
"afectaban" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC · "afectaron" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "afectaban" for "afectaron" ever safe?
Frequency check: "afectaban" vs "afectaron" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "afectaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "afectaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,897 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "afectaban" and "afectaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afectaban 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 #43,897 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.