gustabanvsgustabasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#14,606
“gustaban” frequency rank
#47,841
“gustabas” frequency rank
62447
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gustaban gustabas
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de gustar. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de gustar.

Where the eye mixes gustaban and gustabas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. gustaban and gustabas follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
gustaban
8 ch
gustabas

Visual trap between gustaban and gustabas

A purely visual mix-up. gustaban ([gusˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and gustabas ([gusˈt̪aβ̞as]) 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 a single letter - n in “gustaban” becomes s in “gustabas”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gustaban is recorded at frequency rank #14,606, classified as averb, pronounced [gusˈt̪aβ̞ãn]. gustabas is at rank #47,841, tagged as averb, pronounced [gusˈt̪aβ̞as].

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 62447, this pair ranks #51,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gustaban vs gustabas

Shared letters: abgstu. Private to "gustaban": n. Private to "gustabas": -.

"gustaban" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "gustabas" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • gustaban ← ggustaban · gsutaban · gusatban · gusstaban · gustaabn · gustabann · gustabban · gustabna
  • gustabas ← ggustabas · gsutabas · gusatbas · gusstabas · gustaabs · gustabass · gustabbas · gustabsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gustaban" and "gustabas" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([gusˈt̪aβ̞ãn] versus [gusˈt̪aβ̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gustaban" vs "gustabas" - which ranks higher?
"gustaban" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,606 in our Spanish list, against #47,841 for "gustabas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "gustaban" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gustabas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,994 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gustaban" and "gustabas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gastadas 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 #51,994 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