Which to use
“gobernaban” is a verb and “gobernada” is a participle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,040
- “gobernaban” frequency rank
- #22,382
- “gobernada” frequency rank
- 65422
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gobernaban | gobernada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de gobernar. | Forma del femenino de gobernado, participio de gobernar. |
Where the eye mixes gobernaban and gobernada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. gobernaban runs 10 letters (CVCVCCVCVC) against gobernada's 9 (CVCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: gobernaban vs gobernada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gobernaban is [goβ̞eɾˈnaβ̞ãn] while gobernada is [goβ̞eɾˈnað̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs participle), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gobernaban is recorded at frequency rank #43,040, classified as averb, pronounced [goβ̞eɾˈnaβ̞ãn]. gobernada is at rank #22,382, tagged as aparticiple, pronounced [goβ̞eɾˈnað̞a].
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 65422, this pair ranks #42,681 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of gobernaban vs gobernada
Shared letters: abegnor. Private to "gobernaban": -. Private to "gobernada": d.
"gobernaban" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC · "gobernada" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- gobernaban ← gboernaban · ggobernaban · gobbernaban · gobenraban · goberanban · gobernaabn · gobernabann · gobernabban
- gobernada ← gboernada · ggobernada · gobbernada · gobenrada · goberanda · gobernaad · gobernadda · goberndaa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gobernaban" for "gobernada" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "gobernaban" or "gobernada" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gobernaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gobernada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,681 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gobernaban" and "gobernada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gobernaban vs gobernará". 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 #42,681 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.