alabarvsalabóTell them apart

Which to use

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

#27,841
“alabar” frequency rank
#33,402
“alabó” frequency rank
61243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alabar alabó
Definition Expresar una valoración positiva o celebrar las bondades de alguien o algo, generalmente con palabras. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de alabar.

Where the eye mixes alabar and alabó

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. alabar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against alabó's 5 (VCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
alabar
5 ch
alabó

Why the eye confuses alabar with alabó

A purely visual mix-up. alabar ([alaˈβ̞aɾ]) and alabó ([alaˈβ̞o]) 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 61243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alabar is recorded at frequency rank #27,841, classified as averb, pronounced [alaˈβ̞aɾ]. alabó is at rank #33,402, tagged as averb, pronounced [alaˈβ̞o].

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 61243, this pair ranks #56,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alabar vs alabó

Shared letters: abl. Private to "alabar": r. Private to "alabó": ó.

"alabar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "alabó" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alabar ← aalbar · alaabr · alabarr · alabbar · alabra · alavar · albaar · allabar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alabar" and "alabó" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([alaˈβ̞aɾ] versus [alaˈβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alabar" or "alabó"?
"alabar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,841 in our Spanish list, against #33,402 for "alabó". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "alabar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alabó" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,148 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alabar" and "alabó" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alabó vs alió". 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 #56,148 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