habasvshabíasWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: habas is a noun, habías is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“habas” is a noun and “habías” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,637
“habas” frequency rank
#10,148
“habías” frequency rank
43785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature habas habías
Definition Forma del plural de haba. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de haber.

Where the eye mixes habas and habías

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

5 ch
habas
6 ch
habías

Visual trap between habas and habías

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: habas is [ˈaβ̞as] while habías is [aˈβ̞ias]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

habas is recorded at frequency rank #33,637, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈaβ̞as]. habías is at rank #10,148, tagged as averb, pronounced [aˈβ̞ias].

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 43785, this pair ranks #140,720 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of habas vs habías

Shared letters: abhs. Private to "habas": -. Private to "habías": í.

"habas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "habías" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • habas ← ahbas · haabs · habass · habbas · habsa · havas · hbaas · hhabas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "habas" for "habías" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "habas" is a noun and "habías" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "habas" or "habías"?
"habías" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,148 in our Spanish list, against #33,637 for "habas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "habas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "habías" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #140,720 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "habas" and "habías" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "habas vs hebras". 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 #140,720 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