controlabanvscontrolanTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,602
“controlaban” frequency rank
#11,382
“controlan” frequency rank
49984
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature controlaban controlan
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de controlar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de controlar o de controlarse.

Where the eye mixes controlaban and controlan

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

11 ch
controlaban
9 ch
controlan

Look-alike desk: controlaban vs controlan

A purely visual mix-up. controlaban ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaβ̞ãn]) and controlan ([kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49984, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

controlaban is recorded at frequency rank #38,602, classified as averb, pronounced [kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaβ̞ãn]. controlan is at rank #11,382, tagged as averb, pronounced [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn].

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 49984, this pair ranks #105,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of controlaban vs controlan

Shared letters: aclnort. Private to "controlaban": b. Private to "controlan": -.

"controlaban" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCVC  ·  "controlan" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • controlabanccontrolaban · cnotrolaban · conntrolaban · conrtolaban · contorlaban · contrloaban · controalban · controlaabn
  • controlanccontrolan · cnotrolan · conntrolan · conrtolan · contorlan · contrloan · controaln · controlann

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "controlaban" and "controlan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([kõn̪t̪ɾoˈlaβ̞ãn] versus [kõn̪ˈt̪ɾolãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "controlaban" or "controlan"?
"controlan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,382 in our Spanish list, against #38,602 for "controlaban". 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 "controlaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "controlan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "controlaban" and "controlan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controlaba vs controlaban". 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 #105,739 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