alejabavsalejarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,179
“alejaba” frequency rank
#15,531
“alejar” frequency rank
56710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alejaba alejar
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de alejar o de alejarse. Poner o llevar lejos o a mayor distancia.

Where the eye mixes alejaba and alejar

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

7 ch
alejaba
6 ch
alejar

Why the eye confuses alejaba with alejar

A purely visual mix-up. alejaba ([aleˈxaβ̞a]) and alejar ([aleˈxaɾ]) 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 56710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alejaba is recorded at frequency rank #41,179, classified as averb, pronounced [aleˈxaβ̞a]. alejar is at rank #15,531, tagged as averb, pronounced [aleˈxaɾ].

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 56710, this pair ranks #73,450 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alejaba vs alejar

Shared letters: aejl. Private to "alejaba": b. Private to "alejar": r.

"alejaba" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCV  ·  "alejar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alejaba ← aeljaba · aleajba · alejaab · alejabba · alejava · alejbaa · alejjaba · aljeaba
  • alejar ← aeljar · aleajr · alejarr · alejjar · alejra · aljear · allejar · laejar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "alejaba" and "alejar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([aleˈxaβ̞a] versus [aleˈxaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "alejaba" or "alejar" show up more?
"alejar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,531 in our Spanish list, against #41,179 for "alejaba". 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 "alejaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "alejar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,450 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "alejaba" and "alejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "alejaba 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 #73,450 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