iba vs ir, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#500
“iba” frequency rank: #186
“ir” frequency rank: 686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	iba	ir
Definition	Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de ir o de irse.	Desplazarse de un lugar a otro.

Where the eye mixes iba and ir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

iba

2 ch

Why the eye confuses iba with ir

A purely visual mix-up. iba ([ˈiβ̞a]) and ir ([ˈiɾ]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iba is recorded at frequency rank #500, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈiβ̞a]. ir is at rank #186, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈiɾ].

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 686, this pair ranks #323,097 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of iba vs ir

Shared letters: i. Private to "iba": ab. Private to "ir": r.

"iba" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ir" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "iba" for "ir" ever safe?

No. They are said differently ([ˈiβ̞a] versus [ˈiɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Frequency check: "iba" vs "ir" - which ranks higher?

"ir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #186 in our Spanish list, against #500 for "iba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "iba" and "ir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "iba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #323,097 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"iba" and "ir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "iba vs iza". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #323,097 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.