Which to use
“importa” and “importaba” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #536
- “importa” frequency rank
- #8,818
- “importaba” frequency rank
- 9354
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | importa | importaba |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de importar. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de importar. |
Where the eye mixes importa and importaba
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: importa vs importaba
A purely visual mix-up. importa ([ĩmˈpoɾt̪a]) and importaba ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a]) 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) - “importa” sits inside “importaba”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
importa is recorded at frequency rank #536, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmˈpoɾt̪a]. importaba is at rank #8,818, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a].
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 9354, this pair ranks #302,172 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of importa vs importaba
Shared letters: aimoprt. Private to "importa": -. Private to "importaba": b.
"importa" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "importaba" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "importa" for "importaba" ever safe?
Frequency check: "importa" vs "importaba" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "importa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "importaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,172 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "importa" and "importaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "importaba vs important". 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 #302,172 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.