alegabavsaleganTell them apart

Which to use

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

#47,531
“alegaba” frequency rank
#30,322
“alegan” frequency rank
77853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegaba alegan
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de alegar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de alegar.

Where the eye mixes alegaba and alegan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. alegaba runs 7 letters (VCVCVCV) against alegan's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
alegaba
6 ch
alegan

Look-alike desk: alegaba vs alegan

A purely visual mix-up. alegaba ([aleˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and alegan ([aˈleɣ̞ãn]) 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 77853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegaba is recorded at frequency rank #47,531, classified as averb, pronounced [aleˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. alegan is at rank #30,322, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈleɣ̞ãn].

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 77853, this pair ranks #15,319 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alegaba vs alegan

Shared letters: aegl. Private to "alegaba": b. Private to "alegan": n.

"alegaba" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "alegan" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegaba ← aelgaba · aleagba · alegaab · alegabba · alegava · alegbaa · aleggaba · algeaba
  • alegan ← aelgan · aleagn · alegann · aleggan · alegna · algean · allegan · laegan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "alegaba" for "alegan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aleˈɣ̞aβ̞a] versus [aˈleɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "alegaba" vs "alegan" - which ranks higher?
"alegan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,322 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.

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 "alegaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alegan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #15,319 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alegaba" and "alegan" 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 #15,319 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