Which to use
“comentaban” and “comenzaban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,119
- “comentaban” frequency rank
- #26,364
- “comenzaban” frequency rank
- 65483
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | comentaban | comenzaban |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de comentar. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de comenzar. |
Where the eye mixes comentaban and comenzaban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: comentaban vs comenzaban
A purely visual mix-up. comentaban ([komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and comenzaban ([komẽnˈsaβ̞ãn]) 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 a single letter - t in “comentaban” becomes z in “comenzaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
comentaban is recorded at frequency rank #39,119, classified as averb, pronounced [komẽn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. comenzaban is at rank #26,364, tagged as averb, pronounced [komẽnˈsaβ̞ãn].
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 65483, this pair ranks #42,501 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of comentaban vs comenzaban
Shared letters: abcemno. Private to "comentaban": t. Private to "comenzaban": z.
"comentaban" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "comenzaban" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- comentaban ← ccomentaban · cmoentaban · coemntaban · comenatban · comenntaban · comentaabn · comentabann · comentabban
- comenzaban ← ccomenzaban · cmoenzaban · coemnzaban · comenazban · comennzaban · comenzaabn · comenzabann · comenzabban
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "comentaban" and "comenzaban" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "comentaban" or "comenzaban" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "comentaban" and "comenzaban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "comentaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "comenzaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,501 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "comentaban" and "comenzaban" 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 #42,501 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.