concentravsconcentrabaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,935
“concentra” frequency rank
#45,827
“concentraba” frequency rank
57762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature concentra concentraba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de concentrar o de concentrarse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de concentrar o de concentrarse.

Where the eye mixes concentra and concentraba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. concentra runs 9 letters (CVCCVCCCV) against concentraba's 11 (CVCCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
concentra
11 ch
concentraba

Look-alike desk: concentra vs concentraba

A purely visual mix-up. concentra ([kõnˈsẽn̪t̪ɾa]) and concentraba ([kõnsẽn̪ˈt̪ɾaβ̞a]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “concentra” sits inside “concentraba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

concentra is recorded at frequency rank #11,935, classified as averb, pronounced [kõnˈsẽn̪t̪ɾa]. concentraba is at rank #45,827, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõnsẽn̪ˈt̪ɾaβ̞a].

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 57762, this pair ranks #69,196 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of concentra vs concentraba

Shared letters: acenort. Private to "concentra": -. Private to "concentraba": b.

"concentra" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCV  ·  "concentraba" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • concentracconcentra · cnocentra · cocnentra · conccentra · concenntra · concenrta · concentar · concentrra
  • concentrabacconcentraba · cnocentraba · cocnentraba · conccentraba · concenntraba · concenrtaba · concentarba · concentraab

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "concentra" for "concentraba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kõnˈsẽn̪t̪ɾa] versus [kõnsẽn̪ˈt̪ɾaβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "concentra" or "concentraba"?
"concentra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,935 in our Spanish list, against #45,827 for "concentraba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "concentra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "concentraba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,196 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "concentra" and "concentraba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "concentraba vs concentradas". 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 #69,196 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