cargabanvscerrabanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,320
“cargaban” frequency rank
#34,934
“cerraban” frequency rank
77254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cargaban cerraban
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cargar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de cerrar o de cerrarse.

Where the eye mixes cargaban and cerraban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cargaban and cerraban follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
cargaban
8 ch
cerraban

Look-alike desk: cargaban vs cerraban

A purely visual mix-up. cargaban ([kaɾˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]) and cerraban ([seˈraβ̞ãn]) 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 77254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cargaban is recorded at frequency rank #42,320, classified as averb, pronounced [kaɾˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn]. cerraban is at rank #34,934, tagged as averb, pronounced [seˈraβ̞ãn].

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 77254, this pair ranks #16,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cargaban vs cerraban

Shared letters: abcnr. Private to "cargaban": g. Private to "cerraban": e.

"cargaban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "cerraban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cargabanacrgaban · cagraban · caragban · cargaabn · cargabann · cargabban · cargabna · cargavan
  • cerrabanccerraban · ceraban · cerarban · cerraabn · cerrabann · cerrabban · cerrabna · cerravan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cargaban" and "cerraban" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kaɾˈɣ̞aβ̞ãn] versus [seˈraβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cargaban" or "cerraban"?
"cerraban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,934 in our Spanish list, against #42,320 for "cargaban". 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 "cargaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cerraban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,325 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cargaban" and "cerraban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cargaban vs creaban". 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 #16,325 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