gastabavsgastasWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,631
“gastaba” frequency rank
#27,617
“gastas” frequency rank
65248
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gastaba gastas
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de gastar o de gastarse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de gastar o de gastarse.

Where the eye mixes gastaba and gastas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. gastaba runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against gastas's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
gastaba
6 ch
gastas

Why the eye confuses gastaba with gastas

A purely visual mix-up. gastaba ([gasˈt̪aβ̞a]) and gastas ([ˈgast̪as]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gastaba is recorded at frequency rank #37,631, classified as averb, pronounced [gasˈt̪aβ̞a]. gastas is at rank #27,617, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈgast̪as].

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 65248, this pair ranks #43,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gastaba vs gastas

Shared letters: agst. Private to "gastaba": b. Private to "gastas": -.

"gastaba" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "gastas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gastaba ← agstaba · gasatba · gasstaba · gastaab · gastabba · gastava · gastbaa · gasttaba
  • gastas ← agstas · gasats · gasstas · gastass · gastsa · gasttas · gatsas · ggastas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "gastaba" for "gastas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([gasˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [ˈgast̪as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "gastaba" or "gastas" show up more?
"gastas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,617 in our Spanish list, against #37,631 for "gastaba". 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 "gastaba" and "gastas" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gastaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gastas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,199 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gastaba" and "gastas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gastaba vs gustabas". 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 #43,199 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