importabavsimportarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,818
“importaba” frequency rank
#3,128
“importar” frequency rank
11946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature importaba importar
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de importar. Merecer atención y valoración por su entidad o significatividad.

Where the eye mixes importaba and importar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
importaba
8 ch
importar

Look-alike desk: importaba vs importar

A purely visual mix-up. importaba ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a]) and importar ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aɾ]) 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 11946, 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]. importar is at rank #3,128, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aɾ].

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 11946, this pair ranks #293,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of importaba vs importar

Shared letters: aimoprt. Private to "importaba": b. Private to "importar": -.

"importaba" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCV  ·  "importar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • importabaimmportaba · imoprtaba · imporatba · imporrtaba · importaab · importabba · importava · importbaa
  • importarimmportar · imoprtar · imporatr · imporrtar · importarr · importra · importtar · impotrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "importaba" for "importar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmpoɾˈt̪aβ̞a] versus [ĩmpoɾˈt̪aɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "importaba" or "importar" show up more?
"importar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,128 in our Spanish list, against #8,818 for "importaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "importaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "importar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "importaba" and "importar" 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 #293,289 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