lavabavsllevabaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,455
“lavaba” frequency rank
#2,570
“llevaba” frequency rank
44025
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lavaba llevaba
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de lavar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llevar o de llevarse.

Where the eye mixes lavaba and llevaba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
lavaba
7 ch
llevaba

Look-alike desk: lavaba vs llevaba

A purely visual mix-up. lavaba ([laˈβ̞aβ̞a]) and llevaba ([ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a]) 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 44025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lavaba is recorded at frequency rank #41,455, classified as averb, pronounced [laˈβ̞aβ̞a]. llevaba is at rank #2,570, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a].

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 44025, this pair ranks #139,347 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lavaba vs llevaba

Shared letters: ablv. Private to "lavaba": -. Private to "llevaba": e.

"lavaba" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "llevaba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lavabaalvaba · laavba · lababa · lavaab · lavabba · lavava · lavbaa · lavvaba
  • llevabalelvaba · levaba · lleavba · llebaba · llevaab · llevabba · llevava · llevbaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lavaba" and "llevaba" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([laˈβ̞aβ̞a] versus [ʝeˈβ̞aβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lavaba" vs "llevaba" - which ranks higher?
"llevaba" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,570 in our Spanish list, against #41,455 for "lavaba". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "lavaba" and "llevaba" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lavaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "llevaba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #139,347 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lavaba" and "llevaba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lasaña vs lavaba". 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 #139,347 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