investigabavsinvestiganTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,191
“investigaba” frequency rank
#17,737
“investigan” frequency rank
55928
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature investigaba investigan
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de investigar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de investigar.

Where the eye mixes investigaba and investigan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. investigaba runs 11 letters (VCCVCCVCVCV) against investigan's 10 (VCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
investigaba
10 ch
investigan

Look-alike desk: investigaba vs investigan

A purely visual mix-up. investigaba ([ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞aβ̞a]) and investigan ([ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ãn]) 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 55928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

investigaba is recorded at frequency rank #38,191, classified as averb, pronounced [ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. investigan is at rank #17,737, tagged as averb, pronounced [ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ãn].

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 55928, this pair ranks #76,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of investigaba vs investigan

Shared letters: aeginstv. Private to "investigaba": b. Private to "investigan": -.

"investigaba" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVCV  ·  "investigan" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • investigaba ← inbestigaba · inevstigaba · innvestigaba · invesitgaba · invesstigaba · investgiaba · investiagba · investigaab
  • investigan ← inbestigan · inevstigan · innvestigan · invesitgan · invesstigan · investgian · investiagn · investigann

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "investigaba" for "investigan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ĩmbest̪iˈɣ̞aβ̞a] versus [ĩmbesˈt̪iɣ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "investigaba" vs "investigan" - which ranks higher?
"investigan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,737 in our Spanish list, against #38,191 for "investigaba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "investigaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "investigan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #76,741 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "investigaba" and "investigan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "investigaba vs investigará". 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 #76,741 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