ganabavsganabanConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#11,974
“ganaba” frequency rank
#29,667
“ganaban” frequency rank
41641
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ganaba ganaban
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ganar o de ganarse. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ganar.

Where the eye mixes ganaba and ganaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ganaba runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against ganaban's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
ganaba
7 ch
ganaban

Why the eye confuses ganaba with ganaban

A purely visual mix-up. ganaba ([gaˈnaβ̞a]) and ganaban ([gaˈnaβ̞ãn]) 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) - “ganaba” sits inside “ganaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41641, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ganaba is recorded at frequency rank #11,974, classified as averb, pronounced [gaˈnaβ̞a]. ganaban is at rank #29,667, tagged as averb, pronounced [gaˈnaβ̞ãn].

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 41641, this pair ranks #152,542 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ganaba vs ganaban

Shared letters: abgn. Private to "ganaba": -. Private to "ganaban": -.

"ganaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "ganaban" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ganaba ← agnaba · gaanba · ganaab · ganabba · ganava · ganbaa · gannaba · gganaba
  • ganaban ← agnaban · gaanban · ganaabn · ganabann · ganabban · ganabna · ganavan · ganbaan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ganaba" for "ganaban" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([gaˈnaβ̞a] versus [gaˈnaβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ganaba" or "ganaban"?
"ganaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,974 in our Spanish list, against #29,667 for "ganaban". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "ganaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ganaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #152,542 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ganaba" and "ganaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ganaban vs gozaban". 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 #152,542 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