comentabavscomentabanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,552
“comentaba” frequency rank
#39,119
“comentaban” frequency rank
53671
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature comentaba comentaban
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de comentar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de comentar.

Where the eye mixes comentaba and comentaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
comentaba
10 ch
comentaban

Visual trap between comentaba and comentaban

A purely visual mix-up. comentaba ([komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]) and comentaban ([komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “comentaba” sits inside “comentaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

comentaba is recorded at frequency rank #14,552, classified as averb, pronounced [komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a]. comentaban is at rank #39,119, tagged as averb, pronounced [komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn].

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 53671, this pair ranks #86,773 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of comentaba vs comentaban

Shared letters: abcemnot. Private to "comentaba": -. Private to "comentaban": -.

"comentaba" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "comentaban" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • comentabaccomentaba · cmoentaba · coemntaba · comenatba · comenntaba · comentaab · comentabba · comentava
  • comentabanccomentaban · cmoentaban · coemntaban · comenatban · comenntaban · comentaabn · comentabann · comentabban

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "comentaba" and "comentaban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "comentaba" or "comentaban" show up more?
"comentaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,552 in our Spanish list, against #39,119 for "comentaban". 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 "comentaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "comentaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #86,773 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "comentaba" and "comentaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comentaban vs comentadas". 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 #86,773 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