echabavsechabanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#15,599
“echaba” frequency rank
#35,478
“echaban” frequency rank
51077
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature echaba echaban
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de echar o de echarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de echar.

Where the eye mixes echaba and echaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
echaba
7 ch
echaban

Look-alike desk: echaba vs echaban

A purely visual mix-up. echaba ([eˈt͡ʃaβ̞a]) and echaban ([eˈt͡ʃaβ̞ãn]) 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) - “echaba” sits inside “echaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

echaba is recorded at frequency rank #15,599, classified as averb, pronounced [eˈt͡ʃaβ̞a]. echaban is at rank #35,478, tagged as averb, pronounced [eˈt͡ʃaβ̞ãn].

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 51077, this pair ranks #99,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of echaba vs echaban

Shared letters: abceh. Private to "echaba": -. Private to "echaban": n.

"echaba" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "echaban" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • echabacehaba · ecahba · ecchaba · echaab · echabba · echava · echbaa · echhaba
  • echabancehaban · ecahban · ecchaban · echaabn · echabann · echabban · echabna · echavan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "echaba" for "echaban" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([eˈt͡ʃaβ̞a] versus [eˈt͡ʃaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "echaba" or "echaban" show up more?
"echaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,599 in our Spanish list, against #35,478 for "echaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "echaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "echaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #99,791 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "echaba" and "echaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "echaban vs echarán". 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 #99,791 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