funcionabanvsfuncionaránTell them apart

Which to use

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

#24,161
“funcionaban” frequency rank
#46,576
“funcionarán” frequency rank
70737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature funcionaban funcionarán
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de funcionar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de funcionar.

Where the eye mixes funcionaban and funcionarán

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

11 ch
funcionaban
11 ch
funcionarán

Look-alike desk: funcionaban vs funcionarán

A purely visual mix-up. funcionaban ([fũnsjoˈnaβ̞ãn]) and funcionarán ([fũnsjonaˈɾãn]) 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 70737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

funcionaban is recorded at frequency rank #24,161, classified as averb, pronounced [fũnsjoˈnaβ̞ãn]. funcionarán is at rank #46,576, tagged as averb, pronounced [fũnsjonaˈɾãn].

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 70737, this pair ranks #29,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of funcionaban vs funcionarán

Shared letters: acfinou. Private to "funcionaban": b. Private to "funcionarán": .

"funcionaban" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVC  ·  "funcionarán" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • funcionabanffuncionaban · fnucionaban · fucnionaban · funccionaban · funcinoaban · funcioanban · funcionaabn · funcionabann

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "funcionaban" for "funcionarán" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([fũnsjoˈnaβ̞ãn] versus [fũnsjonaˈɾãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "funcionaban" or "funcionarán"?
"funcionaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,161 in our Spanish list, against #46,576 for "funcionarán". 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 "funcionaban" and "funcionarán" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "funcionaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "funcionarán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #29,050 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "funcionaban" and "funcionarán" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "funcionarán vs funcionaron". 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 #29,050 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