jugábamosvsjugabasTell them apart

Which to use

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

#38,197
“jugábamos” frequency rank
#49,753
“jugabas” frequency rank
87950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jugábamos jugabas
Definition Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de jugar. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de jugar.

Where the eye mixes jugábamos and jugabas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. jugábamos runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCVC) against jugabas's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
jugábamos
7 ch
jugabas

Visual trap between jugábamos and jugabas

A purely visual mix-up. jugábamos ([xuˈɣ̞aβ̞amos]) and jugabas ([xuˈɣ̞aβ̞as]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jugábamos is recorded at frequency rank #38,197, classified as averb, pronounced [xuˈɣ̞aβ̞amos]. jugabas is at rank #49,753, tagged as averb, pronounced [xuˈɣ̞aβ̞as].

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 87950, this pair ranks #4,119 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of jugábamos vs jugabas

Shared letters: abgjsu. Private to "jugábamos": moá. Private to "jugabas": -.

"jugábamos" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "jugabas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jugabas ← jguabas · jjugabas · juagbas · jugaabs · jugabass · jugabbas · jugabsa · jugavas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "jugábamos" for "jugabas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([xuˈɣ̞aβ̞amos] versus [xuˈɣ̞aβ̞as]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "jugábamos" or "jugabas"?
"jugábamos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,197 in our Spanish list, against #49,753 for "jugabas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "jugábamos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "jugabas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,119 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "jugábamos" and "jugabas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jugabas vs juraba". 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 #4,119 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