Which to use
“amaban” is a verb and “Amaya” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,925
- “amaban” frequency rank
- #27,476
- “Amaya” frequency rank
- 61401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amaban | Amaya |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de amar. | Apellido. |
Where the eye mixes amaban and Amaya
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. amaban runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against Amaya's 5 (VCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses amaban with Amaya
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amaban is [aˈmaβ̞ãn] while Amaya is [aˈmaʝa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61401, 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]. Amaya is at rank #27,476, tagged as aname, pronounced [aˈmaʝa].
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 61401, this pair ranks #55,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of amaban vs Amaya
Shared letters: am. Private to "amaban": bn. Private to "Amaya": y.
"amaban" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "Amaya" · 5 letters · shape VCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amaban" for "Amaya" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "amaban" or "Amaya" show up more?
What to do next
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 "Amaya" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #55,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amaban" and "Amaya" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amaban vs amadas". 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 #55,594 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.