Which to use
“costaba” is a verb and “costado” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,801
- “costaba” frequency rank
- #4,694
- “costado” frequency rank
- 19495
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | costaba | costado |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de costar. | Cada una de las dos partes laterales del cuerpo humano, a la izquierda y la derecha, entre el pecho y la espalda, desde el hombro hasta la cadera. |
Where the eye mixes costaba and costado
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: costaba vs costado
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: costaba is [kosˈt̪aβ̞a] while costado is [kosˈt̪að̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
costaba is recorded at frequency rank #14,801, classified as averb, pronounced [kosˈt̪aβ̞a]. costado is at rank #4,694, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kosˈt̪að̞o].
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 19495, this pair ranks #263,491 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of costaba vs costado
Shared letters: acost. Private to "costaba": b. Private to "costado": d.
"costaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "costado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "costaba" for "costado" ever safe?
Which is more common, "costaba" or "costado"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "costaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "costado" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,491 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "costaba" and "costado" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "constará vs costaba". 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 #263,491 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.