Which to use
“llegaba” is a verb and “llegada” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,981
- “llegaba” frequency rank
- #1,864
- “llegada” frequency rank
- 7845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | llegaba | llegada |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de llegar o de llegarse. | El arribo de alguno a parte o sitio determinado. |
Where the eye mixes llegaba and llegada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses llegaba with llegada
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: llegaba is [ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞a] while llegada is [ʝeˈɣ̞að̞a]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - b in “llegaba” becomes d in “llegada”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
llegaba is recorded at frequency rank #5,981, classified as averb, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞aβ̞a]. llegada is at rank #1,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʝeˈɣ̞að̞a].
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 7845, this pair ranks #306,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of llegaba vs llegada
Shared letters: aegl. Private to "llegaba": b. Private to "llegada": d.
"llegaba" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "llegada" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "llegaba" and "llegada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "llegaba" or "llegada" show up more?
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 "llegaba" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "llegada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "llegaba" and "llegada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "llegaba vs llevabas". 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 #306,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.