cagabavscagarlaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cagaba is a verb, cagarla is a phrase, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cagaba” is a verb and “cagarla” is a phrase - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,791
“cagaba” frequency rank
#28,660
“cagarla” frequency rank
74451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cagaba cagarla
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cagar o de cagarse. Equivocarse, en especial de manera importante.

Where the eye mixes cagaba and cagarla

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

6 ch
cagaba
7 ch
cagarla

Why the eye confuses cagaba with cagarla

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cagaba is [kaˈɣ̞aβ̞a] while cagarla is [kaˈɣ̞aɾla]. 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 phrase), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cagaba is recorded at frequency rank #45,791, classified as averb, pronounced [kaˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. cagarla is at rank #28,660, tagged as aphrase, pronounced [kaˈɣ̞aɾla].

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 74451, this pair ranks #21,297 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cagaba vs cagarla

Shared letters: acg. Private to "cagaba": b. Private to "cagarla": lr.

"cagaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "cagarla" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cagabaacgaba · caagba · cagaab · cagabba · cagava · cagbaa · caggaba · ccagaba
  • cagarlaacgarla · caagrla · cagalra · cagaral · cagarlla · cagarrla · caggarla · cagrala

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cagaba" and "cagarla" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cagaba" is a verb and "cagarla" a phrase, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cagaba" vs "cagarla" - which ranks higher?
"cagarla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,660 in our Spanish list, against #45,791 for "cagaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cagaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cagarla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,297 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cagaba" and "cagarla" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cagaba vs casará". 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 #21,297 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