alcanzabanvsalcanzaronWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,037
“alcanzaban” frequency rank
#11,343
“alcanzaron” frequency rank
50380
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alcanzaban alcanzaron
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de alcanzar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de alcanzar o de alcanzarse.

Where the eye mixes alcanzaban and alcanzaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. alcanzaban and alcanzaron follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
alcanzaban
10 ch
alcanzaron

Look-alike desk: alcanzaban vs alcanzaron

A purely visual mix-up. alcanzaban ([alkãnˈsaβ̞ãn]) and alcanzaron ([alkãnˈsaɾõn]) 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 50380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alcanzaban is recorded at frequency rank #39,037, classified as averb, pronounced [alkãnˈsaβ̞ãn]. alcanzaron is at rank #11,343, tagged as averb, pronounced [alkãnˈsaɾõn].

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 50380, this pair ranks #103,520 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of alcanzaban vs alcanzaron

Shared letters: aclnz. Private to "alcanzaban": b. Private to "alcanzaron": or.

"alcanzaban" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "alcanzaron" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcanzabanaclanzaban · alacnzaban · alcanazban · alcannzaban · alcanzaabn · alcanzabann · alcanzabban · alcanzabna
  • alcanzaronaclanzaron · alacnzaron · alcanazron · alcannzaron · alcanzaorn · alcanzarno · alcanzaronn · alcanzarron

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alcanzaban" and "alcanzaron" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([alkãnˈsaβ̞ãn] versus [alkãnˈsaɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alcanzaban" vs "alcanzaron" - which ranks higher?
"alcanzaron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,343 in our Spanish list, against #39,037 for "alcanzaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanzaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alcanzaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,520 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alcanzaban" and "alcanzaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alcanzaban vs alcanzarán". 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 #103,520 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