importabavsimportabanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,818
“importaba” frequency rank
#35,553
“importaban” frequency rank
44371
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature importaba importaban
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de importar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de importar.

Where the eye mixes importaba and importaban

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
importaba
10 ch
importaban

Look-alike desk: importaba vs importaban

A purely visual mix-up. importaba ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a]) and importaban ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) 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) - “importaba” sits inside “importaban”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

importaba is recorded at frequency rank #8,818, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a]. importaban is at rank #35,553, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn].

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 44371, this pair ranks #137,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of importaba vs importaban

Shared letters: abimoprt. Private to "importaba": -. Private to "importaban": n.

"importaba" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "importaban" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • importabaimmportaba · imoprtaba · imporatba · imporrtaba · importaab · importabba · importava · importbaa
  • importabanimmportaban · imoprtaban · imporatban · imporrtaban · importaabn · importabann · importabban · importabna

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "importaba" and "importaban" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "importaba" vs "importaban" - which ranks higher?
"importaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,818 in our Spanish list, against #35,553 for "importaban". 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 "importaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "importaban" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #137,444 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "importaba" and "importaban" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "importaban vs importará". 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 #137,444 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