amabavsamarásConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,659
“amaba” frequency rank
#45,114
“amarás” frequency rank
52773
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature amaba amarás
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de amar. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del futuro de indicativo de amar.

Where the eye mixes amaba and amarás

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
amaba
6 ch
amarás

Look-alike desk: amaba vs amarás

A purely visual mix-up. amaba ([aˈmaβ̞a]) and amarás ([amaˈɾas]) 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 52773, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

amaba is recorded at frequency rank #7,659, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈmaβ̞a]. amarás is at rank #45,114, tagged as averb, pronounced [amaˈɾas].

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 52773, this pair ranks #91,086 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of amaba vs amarás

Shared letters: am. Private to "amaba": b. Private to "amarás": rsá.

"amaba" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "amarás" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • amabaaamba · amaab · amabba · amava · ambaa · ammaba · maaba

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "amaba" and "amarás" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈmaβ̞a] versus [amaˈɾas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "amaba" or "amarás" show up more?
"amaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,659 in our Spanish list, against #45,114 for "amarás". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "amaba" and "amarás" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "amaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "amarás" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #91,086 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "amaba" and "amarás" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amarás vs amarras". 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 #91,086 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