Which to use
“guardaba” and “guardaban” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,122
- “guardaba” frequency rank
- #37,120
- “guardaban” frequency rank
- 56242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guardaba | guardaban |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de guardar o de guardarse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de guardar. |
Where the eye mixes guardaba and guardaban
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between guardaba and guardaban
A purely visual mix-up. guardaba ([gwaɾˈð̞aβ̞a]) and guardaban ([gwaɾˈð̞aβ̞ãn]) 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) - “guardaba” sits inside “guardaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56242, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guardaba is recorded at frequency rank #19,122, classified as averb, pronounced [gwaɾˈð̞aβ̞a]. guardaban is at rank #37,120, tagged as averb, pronounced [gwaɾˈð̞aβ̞ãn].
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 56242, this pair ranks #75,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of guardaba vs guardaban
Shared letters: abdgru. Private to "guardaba": -. Private to "guardaban": n.
"guardaba" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV · "guardaban" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "guardaba" for "guardaban" ever safe?
Which is more common, "guardaba" or "guardaban"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "guardaba" and "guardaban" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "guardaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guardaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "guardaba" and "guardaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guardaban vs guardará". 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 #75,427 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.