alabanvsavalanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,557
“alaban” frequency rank
#33,436
“avalan” frequency rank
72993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes alaban and avalan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alaban and avalan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
alaban
6 ch
avalan

Look-alike desk: alaban vs avalan

A purely visual mix-up. alaban ([aˈlaβ̞ãn]) and avalan ([aˈβ̞alãn]) 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 72993, 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]. avalan is at rank #33,436, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞alãn].

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 72993, this pair ranks #24,217 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alaban vs avalan

Shared letters: aln. Private to "alaban": b. Private to "avalan": v.

"alaban" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "avalan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alaban ← aalban · alaabn · alabann · alabban · alabna · alavan · albaan · allaban
  • avalan ← aavlan · abalan · avaaln · avalann · avallan · avalna · avlaan · avvalan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alaban" and "avalan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aˈlaβ̞ãn] versus [aˈβ̞alãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alaban" or "avalan"?
"avalan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,436 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.

Useful next steps

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 "avalan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,217 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alaban" and "avalan" 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 #24,217 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