golpeavsgolpeabaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,962
“golpea” frequency rank
#29,673
“golpeaba” frequency rank
38635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature golpea golpeaba
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de golpear o de golpearse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de golpear o de golpearse.

Where the eye mixes golpea and golpeaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. golpea runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against golpeaba's 8 (CVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
golpea
8 ch
golpeaba

Look-alike desk: golpea vs golpeaba

A purely visual mix-up. golpea ([golˈpea]) and golpeaba ([golpeˈaβ̞a]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “golpea” sits inside “golpeaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

golpea is recorded at frequency rank #8,962, classified as averb, pronounced [golˈpea]. golpeaba is at rank #29,673, tagged as averb, pronounced [golpeˈaβ̞a].

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 38635, this pair ranks #168,929 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of golpea vs golpeaba

Shared letters: aeglop. Private to "golpea": -. Private to "golpeaba": b.

"golpea" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "golpeaba" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • golpea ← ggolpea · glopea · golepa · gollpea · golpae · golppea · goplea · oglpea
  • golpeaba ← ggolpeaba · glopeaba · golepaba · gollpeaba · golpaeba · golpeaab · golpeabba · golpeava

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "golpea" for "golpeaba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([golˈpea] versus [golpeˈaβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "golpea" vs "golpeaba" - which ranks higher?
"golpea" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,962 in our Spanish list, against #29,673 for "golpeaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "golpea" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "golpeaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #168,929 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "golpea" and "golpeaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "golpeaba vs golpeaban". 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 #168,929 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