amabanvsamasarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,925
“amaban” frequency rank
#42,801
“amasar” frequency rank
76726
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature amaban amasar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de amar. Mezclar dos o más materias, especialmente agua con materiales en polvo tales como yeso, harina, etc., y manipular esta mezcla, generalmente con las manos y con presión, hasta formar una masa.

Where the eye mixes amaban and amasar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. amaban and amasar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
amaban
6 ch
amasar

Why the eye confuses amaban with amasar

A purely visual mix-up. amaban ([aˈmaβ̞ãn]) and amasar ([amaˈsaɾ]) 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 76726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

amaban is recorded at frequency rank #33,925, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈmaβ̞ãn]. amasar is at rank #42,801, tagged as averb, pronounced [amaˈsaɾ].

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 76726, this pair ranks #17,207 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of amaban vs amasar

Shared letters: am. Private to "amaban": bn. Private to "amasar": rs.

"amaban" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "amasar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • amaban ← aamban · amaabn · amabann · amabban · amabna · amavan · ambaan · ammaban
  • amasar ← aamsar · amaasr · amasarr · amasra · amassar · ammasar · amsaar · maasar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "amaban" and "amasar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈmaβ̞ãn] versus [amaˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "amaban" vs "amasar" - which ranks higher?
"amaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,925 in our Spanish list, against #42,801 for "amasar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "amaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "amasar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #17,207 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "amaban" and "amasar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amasar vs amaste". 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 #17,207 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