encantabanvsencantaronWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,714
“encantaban” frequency rank
#37,057
“encantaron” frequency rank
81771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encantaban encantaron
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de encantar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de encantar o de encantarse.

Where the eye mixes encantaban and encantaron

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. encantaban and encantaron follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
encantaban
10 ch
encantaron

Why the eye confuses encantaban with encantaron

A purely visual mix-up. encantaban ([ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and encantaron ([ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aɾõn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encantaban is recorded at frequency rank #44,714, classified as averb, pronounced [ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. encantaron is at rank #37,057, tagged as averb, pronounced [ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aɾõn].

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 81771, this pair ranks #10,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of encantaban vs encantaron

Shared letters: acent. Private to "encantaban": b. Private to "encantaron": or.

"encantaban" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC  ·  "encantaron" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encantabanecnantaban · enacntaban · encanatban · encanntaban · encantaabn · encantabann · encantabban · encantabna
  • encantaronecnantaron · enacntaron · encanatron · encanntaron · encantaorn · encantarno · encantaronn · encantarron

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "encantaban" and "encantaron" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aβ̞ãn] versus [ẽŋkãn̪ˈt̪aɾõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "encantaban" or "encantaron"?
"encantaron" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,057 in our Spanish list, against #44,714 for "encantaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encantaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encantaron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,003 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encantaban" and "encantaron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encantaban vs encargaban". 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 #10,003 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