alegavsalegabaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,434
“alega” frequency rank
#47,531
“alegaba” frequency rank
65965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alega alegaba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alegar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de alegar.

Where the eye mixes alega and alegaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alega runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against alegaba's 7 (VCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
alega
7 ch
alegaba

Visual trap between alega and alegaba

A purely visual mix-up. alega ([aˈleɣ̞a]) and alegaba ([aleˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) 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) - “alega” sits inside “alegaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alega is recorded at frequency rank #18,434, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈleɣ̞a]. alegaba is at rank #47,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞aβ̞a].

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 65965, this pair ranks #41,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alega vs alegaba

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "alega": -. Private to "alegaba": b.

"alega" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "alegaba" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alega ← aelga · aleag · alegga · algea · allega · laega
  • alegaba ← aelgaba · aleagba · alegaab · alegabba · alegava · alegbaa · aleggaba · algeaba

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alega" and "alegaba" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈleɣ̞a] versus [aleˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alega" vs "alegaba" - which ranks higher?
"alega" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,434 in our Spanish list, against #47,531 for "alegaba". 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 "alega" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alegaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #41,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alega" and "alegaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alegaba vs alojaba". 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 #41,146 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