alabanvsalabandoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,557
“alaban” frequency rank
#33,401
“alabando” frequency rank
72958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alaban alabando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alabar. Gerundio de alabar.

Where the eye mixes alaban and alabando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. alaban runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against alabando's 8 (VCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alaban
8 ch
alabando

Visual trap between alaban and alabando

A purely visual mix-up. alaban ([aˈlaβ̞ãn]) and alabando ([alaˈβ̞ãn̪d̪o]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “alaban” sits inside “alabando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alaban is recorded at frequency rank #39,557, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈlaβ̞ãn]. alabando is at rank #33,401, tagged as averb, pronounced [alaˈβ̞ãn̪d̪o].

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 72958, this pair ranks #24,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alaban vs alabando

Shared letters: abln. Private to "alaban": -. Private to "alabando": do.

"alaban" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alabando" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alaban ← aalban · alaabn · alabann · alabban · alabna · alavan · albaan · allaban
  • alabando ← aalbando · alaabndo · alabadno · alabanddo · alabanndo · alabanod · alabbando · alabnado

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alaban" and "alabando" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaβ̞ãn] versus [alaˈβ̞ãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alaban" or "alabando"?
"alabando" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,401 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.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alabando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,274 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alaban" and "alabando" 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 #24,274 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