Which to use
“esperaban” and “esperabas” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,112
- “esperaban” frequency rank
- #15,608
- “esperabas” frequency rank
- 23720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | esperaban | esperabas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de esperar. | Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de esperar. |
Where the eye mixes esperaban and esperabas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. esperaban and esperabas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between esperaban and esperabas
A purely visual mix-up. esperaban ([espeˈɾaβ̞ãn]) and esperabas ([espeˈɾaβ̞as]) 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 a single letter - n in “esperaban” becomes s in “esperabas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
esperaban is recorded at frequency rank #8,112, classified as averb, pronounced [espeˈɾaβ̞ãn]. esperabas is at rank #15,608, tagged as averb, pronounced [espeˈɾaβ̞as].
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 23720, this pair ranks #244,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of esperaban vs esperabas
Shared letters: abeprs. Private to "esperaban": n. Private to "esperabas": -.
"esperaban" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC · "esperabas" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "esperaban" for "esperabas" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "esperaban" or "esperabas" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "esperaban" and "esperabas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "esperaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esperabas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #244,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "esperaban" and "esperabas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esperabas vs esperable". 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 #244,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.