alabanvsamabaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#39,557
“alaban” frequency rank
#7,659
“amaba” frequency rank
47216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alaban amaba
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alabar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de amar.

Where the eye mixes alaban and amaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
alaban
5 ch
amaba

Why the eye confuses alaban with amaba

A purely visual mix-up. alaban ([aˈlaβ̞ãn]) and amaba ([aˈmaβ̞a]) 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 47216, 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]. amaba is at rank #7,659, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈmaβ̞a].

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 47216, this pair ranks #121,300 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alaban vs amaba

Shared letters: ab. Private to "alaban": ln. Private to "amaba": m.

"alaban" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "amaba" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alabanaalban · alaabn · alabann · alabban · alabna · alavan · albaan · allaban
  • amabaaamba · amaab · amabba · amava · ambaa · ammaba · maaba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alaban" for "amaba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaβ̞ãn] versus [aˈmaβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alaban" vs "amaba" - which ranks higher?
"amaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,659 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

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "amaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,300 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alaban" and "amaba" 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 #121,300 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