amabasvsamasarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#43,369
“amabas” frequency rank
#42,801
“amasar” frequency rank
86170
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature amabas amasar
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) 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 amabas and amasar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. amabas 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
amabas
6 ch
amasar

Why the eye confuses amabas with amasar

A purely visual mix-up. amabas ([aˈmaβ̞as]) 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 86170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

amabas is recorded at frequency rank #43,369, classified as averb, pronounced [aˈmaβ̞as]. 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 86170, this pair ranks #5,509 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of amabas vs amasar

Shared letters: ams. Private to "amabas": b. Private to "amasar": r.

"amabas" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "amasar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • amabas ← aambas · amaabs · amabass · amabbas · amabsa · amavas · ambaas · ammabas
  • amasar ← aamsar · amaasr · amasarr · amasra · amassar · ammasar · amsaar · maasar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "amabas" for "amasar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([aˈmaβ̞as] versus [amaˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "amabas" or "amasar"?
"amasar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,801 in our Spanish list, against #43,369 for "amabas". 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 "amabas" 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 #5,509 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "amabas" and "amasar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "amabas 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 #5,509 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