elaboranvselaborandoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,766
“elaboran” frequency rank
#26,420
“elaborando” frequency rank
50186
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature elaboran elaborando
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de elaborar. Gerundio de elaborar.

Where the eye mixes elaboran and elaborando

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. elaboran runs 8 letters (VCVCVCVC) against elaborando's 10 (VCVCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
elaboran
10 ch
elaborando

Why the eye confuses elaboran with elaborando

A purely visual mix-up. elaboran ([elaˈβ̞oɾãn]) and elaborando ([elaβ̞oˈɾãn̪d̪o]) 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) - “elaboran” sits inside “elaborando”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

elaboran is recorded at frequency rank #23,766, classified as averb, pronounced [elaˈβ̞oɾãn]. elaborando is at rank #26,420, tagged as averb, pronounced [elaβ̞oˈɾãn̪d̪o].

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 50186, this pair ranks #104,612 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of elaboran vs elaborando

Shared letters: abelnor. Private to "elaboran": -. Private to "elaborando": d.

"elaboran" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCVC  ·  "elaborando" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • elaboran ← ealboran · elabboran · elaboarn · elaborann · elaborna · elaborran · elabroan · elaobran
  • elaborando ← ealborando · elabborando · elaboarndo · elaboradno · elaboranddo · elaboranndo · elaboranod · elabornado

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "elaboran" for "elaborando" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([elaˈβ̞oɾãn] versus [elaβ̞oˈɾãn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "elaboran" or "elaborando"?
"elaboran" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,766 in our Spanish list, against #26,420 for "elaborando". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "elaboran" and "elaborando" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "elaboran" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "elaborando" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,612 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "elaboran" and "elaborando" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "elaborando vs enamorando". 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 #104,612 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